


NEST, a Girl, and a New Direction

by KelticCat



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-26
Updated: 2014-06-28
Packaged: 2017-12-13 02:05:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/818687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KelticCat/pseuds/KelticCat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katherine Annabelle O'Malley was your normal gear head fan girl with few expectations in life. But when she is involved in an accident that sends her across dimensions, her life get's really complicated.  Will she be able to save her favorite Autobots? Or will the secret she's been keeping for years tear everything apart? All she knows is she and her brother are neck deep in trouble and she will need every ounce of wit she possesses to keep them a float.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Birthdays, Accidents, and Confusion

**Author's Note:**

> So, I actually started this on FF.net, hated what I put up, and decided to rewrite it and post it here and there. So this is the rewritten version of this fic. Hopefully, it will go much better than last time.

             “ _Oh where is my hairbrush? Oh where is my hairbrush? Oh where, oh where, oh where, oh where, oh where, oh where! Is my hairbru-_ ” a pale hand smacked the iPod alarm clock before the song could continue. Blearily sea-green eyes opened to glare at the displayed time as if it was mocking the girl with its happy display.

            “At least it’s my day off,” the low soprano voice grumbled as the covers were kicked away. A tousled shoulder length honey blond hair rolled against the pillow as her curvy figure stretched lazily. It was a beautiful mountain morning with warm sun filtering in through the tall windows and warming the studio apartment. A cracked window let in the mountain breeze and with it, the smell of a spring storm on the air. Katherine Annabelle O’Malley, known as Kat to her friends, smiled as the breeze brushed over her lightly; prompting goose bumps before it continued through her home. With a wide yawn, she rolled out of bed to the floor and began doing pushups effortlessly. While she wasn’t a body builder in any sense of the word but she defiantly had some tone to her and enjoyed keeping in shape. 250 pushups later she got to her feet just as her phone rang. Absently she picked it up as she headed over to her treadmill to continue her workout. “If this is a telemarketer I’m not interested and will sue if you ever call again. This is the required 24 hour notice you need under Colorado law. Any call after 24 hours and you will be hearing from my lawyer.”

            “Awe, still having trouble with them Kat?” a teasing tenor voice came out of the speaker and Kat smirked. “Are little telemarketers too much for the great Katherine O’Malley?”

            “Josh, if I had a dime every time a telemarketer called, I’d be filthy rich,” Kat stated dryly. “What’s on your mind big brother?”

            Kat could almost hear the man’s shrug. “Not much, just seeing what your plans for the day where.”

            Kat raised an eyebrow at that. “What are you planning?” she demanded.

            “Open your door.”

            “Use the fragging key,” she snapped back and hung up. A few seconds later a tall, lanky, black haired man entered her studio apartment.

            Josh blinked when he caught her on the treadmill. “Morning workout? I thought you’d be done with this already! It’s already eight!”

            Kat flipped him off and quickly finished her routine. “I was up late last night working on a Transformer’s fic,” she informed him, wiping the sweat off her face with the nearby hand towl. “So I slept in this morning.”

            Josh shook his head at Kat, knowing her obsession to her fan fictions and tossed her a bottle of water that she proceeded to down. “Why don’t you go shower and I’ll cook us up something,” he suggested.

            Kat shrugged and waved a hand at her kitchen. “You know my rules,” she stated and quickly picked up a change of clothes and slipped into her bathroom. Josh chuckled at quickly made a meal as Kat got clean and dressed for the day. When she came out she was dressed in jeans and her favorite blood red corset while she tied her still damp hair back in a ponytail. The two quickly dug into their meal and while they were eating Kat asked, “So, what are you planning?”

            Josh blinked innocently at her. “Can’t an older brother surprise his baby sister?” he asked before a small smirk crossed his lips.

            Kat rolled her eyes and gave him a knowing look while leveling her fork at him warningly. “Josh, I know it’s my birthday, but if your plans involve parties or alcohol I’m out. This is a ‘me’ day, and I even shut down the shop to take it.  That means _mall_ and _shopping_ spree!”

            Josh cringed at that before putting up his hands in surrender. He knew better than to get between a woman and their shopping. “Okay, goodness! Can I at least give you your birthday present?” he asked instead.

            Kat’s face lit up at the thought. Josh always got her the best gifts. Last year for Christmas he had gotten her an amazing rawhide trench coat, one where she could hide a full length katana in. And for her birthday that same year gave her a wolf’s head cane with hidden blade inside.  It seemed her brother could always find her the perfect gift as it was always something she would never buy for herself. “Pretty please?” she begged with wide eyes.

            Josh chuckled and pulled two packages out from the inner pockets of his own trench coat and handed her one. “Open this one first,” he ordered. Kat didn’t hesitate to tear into the paper and opened the box only to gape at its contents. Inside were two, custom made .45 hand guns with a familiar symbol etched on the sides. “I remembered how much you’ve been obsessing over your Transformers as of late so I had the Autobot symbol put on them,” Josh explained. He got a soft smile as she quickly began assessing the weapons while cooing over them

            “Josh, they’re gorgeous!” Kat breathed, taking the guns out and checking the sights. “You even got me extra clips and filled them!”

            Josh's smile grew at the hero-worship he heard in her voice and pushed the other box across the table. “Now this one,” he instructed.

            Kat gave him a funny look, as the guns were perfect in her mind, and opened the second box. Inside was a chest gun holster that had a metal version of the Autobot symbol carefully stitched over the holsters and strange looking bullets. “The bullets the experimental ones you had me working on,” he explained as she expertly put on the vest, securing it over the corset and displaying the symbols proudly, before examining the bullets. “Sabot round, compact style and it won’t damage your guns. They’re actually the first of five to be treated to be able to handle these rounds. And, as of right now the mini-sabot’s only come in .45 as we can't get them to work in any of the other sizes.”

            Kat jumped to her feet to hug her brother tightly. “Oh my god Josh I love them!” she squealed. Josh winced at the attack on his hearing but hugged her back with a laugh. “How much for the sabots?” she asked when she pulled back.

            “Not a penny,” he replied with a stern look. “They’re part of the half patent that you own, so you will never have to by these. Though I’m hearing rumors that the government wants us to contract exclusively with them.”

            “Have you given then a response?” Kat asked sitting back down to finish eating.

            Josh shook his head and finished up. “Not yet, I wanted to get your opinion first.”

            Kat tilted her head thoughtfully as she mentally went over the pros and cons. “Honestly, if we can keep these rounds of the street that would make me happy. And I actually came up with the idea with the military in mind,” she admitted. Josh nodded, having figured that much out himself, and began washing the plates and pans. Kat hugged him tightly when he picked up her plate. “Thanks for the awesome morning big brother,” she smiled. Josh smiled back and finished washing the dishes as Kat got her trench coat on. She slipped her wallet and check book inside one of the inside pockets, triple checking to make sure her license to carry concealed and bladed weapons was on her before she slipped her favorite, Autobot etched knife in the small of her back and the guns into the holster.

            By the time she finished so had Josh. “Wanna ride to the mall?” he offered.

            Kat drooled slightly when she thought about his shiny new black Camaro that would be sitting behind her shop but shook her head. “Naw, I’d just end up dragging you halfway across Springs if you put me in that baby and you still have work today,” she pointed out. “I’ll take the bus.”

            Josh shrugged and hugged his sister. “Just be careful,” he cautioned. “I’ve been hearing weird rumors on the streets.” Kat nodded and helped him into the car, softly cooing at the beautiful paint job and the interior design.

            “Ya know big brother if you-” she started to say.

            But Josh cut in with a laugh. “I know, I know. If I ever need someone to work on the car, call you. I will little sis. Happy birthday.”

            “Love you big bro,” Kat murmured as she hugged him through the window then watched him speed off. Of the two of them Josh was the science and tech geek, which is why he was in control of their mother's company. Kat was just a musician, gear head, martial artist whose favorite hobby was to write fan fictions, mostly on the Transformers. Kat shook those thoughts from her head and put in her headphones. The day was all her own and she was going to enjoy ever millisecond of it.

            Kat got on the bus and let it take her to her spot of relaxation, the mall. She spent the day just cruising around window shopping mostly, until a movie memorabilia shop caught her attention. Kat slipped inside the store and made a beeline for their Transformer’s section. What she saw had her drooling. “Can I help you?” a young perky voice asked.

            Kat blinked up at the gothic looking teen and grinned when she caught sight of the Autobots ALWAYS kick ‘Con aft! shirt the girl was wearing. “Where do I get one and do you have it in a large?” she asked pointing at the teen’s shirt. The young girl’s face lit up when she realized she had a fellow Autobot fan and showed her everything she could. Kat ended up picking up the shirt as well as one that just said Till all are one! as well as a few earrings and a pair of dog tags with the NEST/Autobot insignia on one side and the other was blank.

            As a special the teen, whose name Kat learned was Laura, engraved Kat’s name, blood type, and her allergy to penicillin on the tags. “That allergy bites!” Laura said as she took of the heavy metal working gloves and examined the tags to make sure everything was done right. “Do you want silencers with these? I’ll toss them in for free.” Kat nodded and Laura handed her the tags and silencers, watching in awe as Kat easily slipped the silencers on. “You military?”

            “Naw,” Kat chuckled as she slipped the tags on. “My dad was though. I got silencers for his tags when I got them from him. Same when I had a copy made for my brother. Josh always wanted to be military, but something's in our lives made it impossible.” Laura shot her an apologetic look that she knew was for her brother but Kat waved it off as she paid for everything. “Have a good day and thanks!”

            “Thank you and come back soon!” Laura called with a wave as she took her bags and left. Checking the time, Kat realized it was far past lunch and she should do something else as she had already done a full trek of the mall. With a shrug she left and headed for the bus stop that would take her home.

            That’s where she saw it. A SSC Ultimate Aero Twin Turbo sat in the parking lot shining in the sun with its red and blue paint job. Kat checked her chin for drool then pulled out her phone to snap as many shots of the car as possible. The driver wasn’t half bad either. A tall tanned male in a Hawaiian shirt and suffer shorts leaned against the hood with a cocky smirk though he glared at anyone who dared to come close to his car. Not that Kat could blame him. The car he had wasn’t even out on the market yet! Even Josh, who knew the creator hadn't been able to get her in to see them. Not that they hadn't tried.

            Kat was so enthralled with the car that she almost missed her bus. Kat shook herself out of her fantasies about the car and got on with a sheepish grin, flashing her bus pass on the meter. However, the bus end up sitting at the stop for a while as everyone on board gapped as well. Not that she could blame them, it was a true work of art. Finally Kat had enough and got off the bus. She was going to talk to the cutie with the hot car and find out where the hell he got it! But she never made it across the street. Instead, a distracted truck driver (another person staring) never saw her walk into the street until it was too late.

            All Kat knew was pain as she suddenly when flying. She barely registered the screech of tire breaks as the large Ford F150 truck that hit her came to a stop or the screams of bystanders as they saw her fly. The initial impact that sent her flying knocked the wind out of her, and the landing made everything worse. Gasping for breath and unable to catch it she tried to calm her racing heart. Kat knew she was going into shock, long before her body actually got there and had to fight to keep from hyperventilating.

            As she fought to keep her body under control, one of the bystanders came to hover over her. “Are you okay? Do you need a doctor?” the guy asked loudly though calmly.

            Kat could tell he was used to high stress situations as he was hiding his shock and fear in an expert manor. “Call an ambulance,” Kat croaked out painfully. “No penicillin. Allergic. Check tags.” With that information passed on she let herself slip into sweet oblivion.

 00000000000000000000000000000000

             It took a while for Kat’s brain to start consciously processing things again. When it did the first thing she noticed was the pain in her chest and head. It was only with experience that she was able to push the pain aside and evaluate her condition herself. The burning in her chest told her that she had at least fractured if not broken multiple ribs and one scrapped her lung dangerously when she took a deep breath. But that could be ignored through will and medications. With only one broken, it wouldn't be too bad. The throbbing in her temples from the back of her head and the fact it took some effort to see straight told her she had a concussion.

            Now that she had the condition of her body she focused on looking around and sighed when she saw she was in the ER. Her sigh caught the attention of the person next to her and she felt a familiar hand slip into her own and gently squeeze. Kat looked to the owner of the hand and smiled at Josh. Her older brother gave her a shaky smile back. It wasn't the first time Kat had ended up in the Emergency Room and knowing their family history, it wouldn't be then last. “Hey kitten,” he whispered, giving her hand another gentle squeeze. “How are you feeling?”

            Kat resisted the urge to laugh as it would be quite painful and settled for a wiry grin. “Could be a lot worse,” she replied honestly. “What’s the damage?”

            “Concussion and multiple fractured and broken ribs,” Josh replied. “You’re right, it could have been worse. Thankfully the truck was high enough that you were able to brace most of the impact, though how you don’t have broken arms I don’t know.”

            Kat inclined her head slightly and refocused her thoughts. “Where’s everything?” she asked.

            Josh pulled a shopping bag up from under her bed at that. “What all did you buy?” he asked looking through the bag.

            Kat described the shirts and he nodded when he saw them along with her earrings and lifted the tags off of her chest when she mentioned them. “And my gear?” she asked when he put her shopping down.

            “I’ve got your new guns, holsters, and your knife in my car with your trench,” Josh assured her. “When the cops saw your license they gave everything to me to keep safe.” Kat nodded as it made perfect sense to her and slowly began pushing herself up just as the doctor came into the small room.

            Seeing what she was doing the doc shook his head in exasperation. “You are very lucky kiddo,” he sighed as he came over and helped her sit up and raised the bed so she could lean against it. This wasn’t the first time the O’Malley’s had come through his ER and he was sure it wouldn’t be the last. “The truck that hit you also ended up hitting the bus you were on. You are very lucky to be alive.”

            Kat frowned at that. “Is the driver okay?” she asked.

            The doctor checked her bandages and nodded. “He’s shaken but fine. He would like to apologize for the accident and wishes to pay all of your medical bills. He also wants to meet you and apologize in person.”

            Kat thought about it as she replied the accident in her head. Something wasn’t adding up. For some reason she had two memories of the accident. One was right in front of her home while the other one was in front of the mall. The truck that hit her was the same, with the only difference being the symbol on the grill. One was the normal Toyota symbol. The other she could swear was the Autobot symbol. “Where was I hit?” Kat asked slowly.

            Josh was the one who replied quickly, apparently expecting the question. “In front of your apartment’s bus stop, do you remember?”

            “Yes… and no,” she replied as dread filled her. “Doc, what’s this guy’s name?”

            “A Mr. Ian Hyde,” the doctor replied with a raised eyebrow. “He and his boss a Tim P. Primouse wish to make it up to you.”

            Kat’s stomach fell through the floor as reactions and information lined up in her head. Josh hadn’t done his usual head shake when he had seen her Transformers merchandise; instead he had looked slightly confused.  Ian Hyde was one of the many cover names she had seen for Ironhide and the truck that hit her was the exact thing his alt mode was. And Tim P. Primouse was an anagram for Optimus Prime! Of course he was Ian’s “boss” because he technically was! “Josh, if I was to say Transformers, what would you think?” she asked seemingly out of nowhere.

            “It’s an electrical box,” he replied immediately and frowned when she paled. “Kat?”

            Kat shook her head and brought her thoughts back to where they needed to be. She needed her computer to do some more research before she really got in over her head. “Doc, please let Mr. Hyde and Mr. Primouse know that while I appreciate the thought it won’t be necessary. The accident was completely my fault as I wasn’t looking when I stepped into traffic. I am the one to blame, not Mr. Hyde.” As she spoke she got up out of bed, fighting down the dizziness that sprung up with her movement. Once the room settled she reached for her clothing.

            Thankfully the doctor had treated her before so he knew better than to insist that she sit back down. Instead he drew the curtains around her so she could dress properly and privately. “Sure thing Kat,” he sighed then thought of something else. “Mr. Hyde also had a question for you. He wanted to know where you got your new tags. Said he liked the design and asked what NEST stood for.”

            Kat paled slightly further at that as she came back out, dressed once more in her corset. Though the doc usually didn’t like her in the tight fitting clothing, he knew she could use the steel boning along with the wrapping on her ribs to keep the bones in place. “Found the tags in a small store in the Mall. My information was added later. Don’t remember the name of the shop. I love the designs though. They’re from a movie you know.” The doctor shrugged and Josh gave her a confused look. But he kept silent as Kat signed her release forms and they quickly headed for his car, though Kat stumbled slightly.

            Only once they were in the car did Josh ask what was on his mind. “Kat, when did you add those designs to the guns and hostlers I gave you?” he asked as he pulled out and blinked as his sister swore. “Katherine Annabella  O’Malley what the hell is going on?”

            “I don’t know brother,” Kat sighed leaning against the seat and closing her eyes. “Did you ever start the program on alternate realties?”

            Josh shot her a confused look. “You mean the one mom came up with? No why?” Kat shut up and shook her head. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

            “I’ll be fine if all of this just blows over,” Kat murmured as she closed her eyes and leaned back against the seat. “If it doesn’t……I’ll disappear.” With that she fell asleep and Josh was left to ponder over her statements. Josh let her sleep until they came to her shop. It was a modest automotive shop that Kat had received as an 18th birthday present from their parents. They waited until she was 20 to tell her that it also served as the companies automotive department. Kat had the upstairs converted to her loft and loved taking custom jobs. When she wasn’t working on a car, she sang freelance at the local clubs. Josh pulled into the shop and gently shook his sister awake.

            Kat blinked blearily up at him and yawned. Josh smiled at the cute picture she made and decided he wasn’t going to make her walk. Pulling her bag out he put her guns and holsters in it before slinging the trench coat over his shoulder, putting the bag on his arm, and carefully picked his sister up. Getting through the door was a chore, but he did it without waking her further. Once he got her inside he helped get her into her PJ’s and tucked her into bed before putting her purchases and new toys away. He paused when he saw her closet and frowned. The symbol she had on her tags was ever where in her closet and there seemed to be pictures of giant robots. It apparently was Kat’s newest obsession he deduced though he had no idea where she got it. He shook his head and checked to see if she was storing her mini-sabot rounds properly. Josh suddenly remembered when Kat randomly called him up, asking if he could make them. It wasn’t hard as he had gotten his hands on the designs a while ago, but making the special coating for the guns was difficult. Now though he had a Major Lennox begging for the weaponry and an exclusive contract.

            “You’re thinking too loudly again,” Kat called from her bed. Josh turned to see she had woken up and had pulled her laptop to her. What she was finding had her frowning in anger and frustration. “Wanna talk?”

            Josh sighed and sat on the bed to better watch her. Finally shook his head. “It’s nothing. So, what’s your new obsession?” he asked.

            Kat raised an eyebrow and finally looked at him. “Go to my movie collection and pull out _Transformers_ and _Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen_ please,” she asked of him. Josh gave her a confused look but went over to her DVD rack.

            He looked for the titles but didn’t see them. He even looked around her TV and DVD player, but they were not to be found. “I don’t see them Kat,” he informed her, coming back over to the bed to sit.

            Kat closed her eyes painfully at that. Either someone was messing around with her head, or she had finally appeared in something she would write as a fan fiction. “Never mind Cypher,” she sighed, figuring it was the later as all the internet information was gone, but the stuff she had saved to her computer was still there. That did not bode well for her in the short term. Long term, maybe, but the short term was going to be hell. “I’m tired big brother. But would you mind staying the night?” Josh shook his head and pulled out the bed that was in her couch and made it up. As Kat put her things away she also tucked her knife under her pillow and watched her brother make himself comfortable. “Thanks Josh,” she whispered and began to fall into sleep.

            Just before she fell completely unto slumber she heard, “I will always be with you little sister.” She smiled and allowed her mind to slip into the darkness that made up her dreams. Hopefully, things would make more sense when she woke.


	2. Hot Cars, Painful Lies, and Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are coming to light now and Kat has to make a choice. Stick around and get neck deep in trouble? Or leave and hope for the best.

            _Ding! Dong!_ Kat snarled lowly as her door bell made her throbbing head spike painfully. It was bad enough that Josh had to keep waking her up in the middle of the night to make sure she didn’t fall into a coma. The doorbell just added insult to injury.  “I got it sis,” Josh’s low tenor assured her. Kat relaxed into her pillow at that murmuring her agreement. Her brother’s chuckle helped her relax further though she listened for the locks to her door being undone and the door opened. “Hello officer, can I help you?” he asked a little coldly. His little sister was in pain after all!

            “I’m looking for Katherine O’Malley,” the unknown man stated, his own bass voice unsure. “This is her residence and car shop is it not?”

            Kat snarled again to herself and sat up. “Who the frag wants to know?” she demanded glaring at the doorway as her head cursed the sunlight. Concussions were never fun.

            The man in uniform, Colorado Springs Police to be exact, coughed uncomfortably at her statement and her low ridding pajamas. “I’m Sergeant Edward Cross. I was assigned your car accident case. I wanted to ask you a few questions if you don’t mind?” he replied nervously fiddling with his notebook.

            Kat nodded to Josh who let the man in as she snagged a robe and put it on. “Cypher, do you mind whipping me up a smoothie?” she asked as she headed to her treadmill and began jogging. Even though doing most of her morning routine would hurt right now, she didn’t want to get out of shape. Josh nodded, closing the door and patted the stunned blond man on the shoulder. Rolling her head slightly Kat asked, “You want something to drink? I’ve got water, milk, Orange Juice, coffee that I know Josh is going to start soon, and something carbonated….”

            “Root beer!” Josh called helpfully from her fridge.

            Sergeant Cross watched Kat jog on the treadmill for a minute, surprised at her resilience. “Water is fine,” he replied slowly as he took in the airy studio. “Should you be doing so much, so soon after your accident?”

            Josh snorted and handed him a glass. “She’s not running, it’s a jog,” he said lightly. “And she get’s pissed if she can’t do her daily work out.” Kat stopped her jog and began doing some yoga to keep herself flexible. “With most of her ribs either broken or fractured she will need to keep her muscles flexible but toned so they heal in place.” When Kat paused in a position he had her sip her smoothie.

            Kat smacked her lips and smiled up at him before she moved again. “Ask away Sergeant,” she requested as she moved into another position and motioned for him to sit.

            Sergeant Cross did as she asked and Josh joined him on her couch as they watched her do her exercises. Setting the water on the coffee table, he opened his notepad and pulled out a pen. “Can you tell me what happened in your own words?”

            Kat settled in a position and sighed. “I went to the mall for my birthday.  Had a great time, picked up some things, and then went to the mall bus stop. That’s where I saw it…” Kat paused as she thought about the car she had spotted and drooled slightly. When Josh cleared his throat she brought herself back to reality. “Sorry about that,” she blushed and moved to a new position. “Anyway this smoking hot car was sitting in the parking lot. A SSC Ultimate Aero Twin Turbo with this sweet red and blue paint job just sat there with a not to bad driver sitting on the hood. I know I wasn’t the only one staring as after I got on my bus we just sat there. So I got off the bus and went to say hi only to get hit by that truck.”

            Both Josh and Sergeant Cross stared at her worriedly. “Miss O’Malley… you were hit right outside your home,” the Sergeant informed her slowly.

            Kat nodded at that and finally stood straight to take the drink from Josh’s limp grip. It wouldn’t do for him to drop it and make a mess of her carpet. “Yes, it appears I was. That’s what I can’t figure out. I have the photographic evidence of that SSC, but I have two different memories of the accident. One is at the mall, the other is out front. However, I’m more willing to believe the photographic evidence than my memories right at this moment.”

            “Photographs?” the officer asked weakly. Kat nodded and picked her cell phone up from the table. She pushed a few buttons then handed it over to the cop. Both Josh and Sergeant Cross stared at the progression of photos, even seeing the odd snapshots of the accident. Apparently Kat still had the camera running when she was hit.

            Sergeant Cross closed the phone with a sigh. “Do you mind if I take this?” he asked holding up the phone.

            Kat rolled her eyes and snagged the phone from him only to pull a memory card from the phone. “I want that back when you’re done but they are all there. That better?” she asked and the officer nodded.

            “However, you were hit out in front of your home,” the officer pointed out and pulled out the crime scene photos to show her. “So how is it that you were in two places at once?”

            Kat was silent as she looked the photos over then sighed as she handed them back. “I honestly don’t know,” she told him. “However, I do not wish to press charges against Mr. Hyde.” Kat snorted as she realized something. “And if asked why just tell them, Ironhide is fraging lucky that a few broken ribs is all that happened and to have Doc Hatchet take a look at his front sensors. Is that all officer?”

            The man finished jotting down what she said and nodded slowly. “I will call later with the results of my investigation, but I will take into consideration that you do not wish to press charges. Have a good day.” He shook their hands briskly, though he eyed Kat speculatively for a long moment, and left her his card. Josh was left staring at his sister as she cleaned up her loft almost absently.

            “Kat…” he trailed off uncertain when he saw she was packing her emergency bags. “What’s going on kiddo?” he finally demanded.

            Kat paused and leaned against her bed staring down at her bags. “Josh… something happened in that accident,” she admitted softly. “Something I didn’t think was possible. It’s going to be very, very not good for me to be around for a while unless I can find the driver of that SSC UATT. Even then it may not end well for me.”

            Josh stood up at that and stalked over to his sister to grab her by the shoulders. “Kat, what is going on?” he demanded again, this time more harshly.

             Kat forced herself to smile and hugged him. Josh quickly hugged her back, though his grip was mindful of the broken rib. “I don’t know big brother. But I may need to disappear for a while. Don’t worry about me. I’ll take my guns and everything. And I need you to do me a big favor.”

            Josh squeezed as tightly as he dared so he didn’t hurt her and pressed his face against her neck worriedly. “What is it?” he finally asked with a heavy sigh.

            Kat pulled back and smiled up at him for real this time, knowing he was going to help. “I need you to start making some inquiries as to what happened in Mission City, Nevada a year ago. You know, when they said there was a terrorist attack and a mass hallucination? It doesn’t sound right to my ears. Also, if I call you up and tell you I need to go off the grid for a while, can you look after this place for me? I don’t want it getting burned down or something.”

            Josh sighed and pulled his little sister closer to him again. He knew all the stuff he taught her about disappearing in plain sight would help her if she did need to go off the grid. He also knew that she remembered all their wilderness survival that their father drummed into their head. He never knew _why_ they needed to know such things, but it helped a lot after their parents died. He just wasn’t comfortable with what Kat was apparently hiding from him but knew she would continue to hide until she felt it was necessary to tell him. He wondered, not for the first time, which of them were the eldest of the two and just held her. “I’ll do it,” he finally answered. “And I’ll keep it quite. But I want answers kiddo. One day I want answers. Especially since Mission City is miles from Colorado.”

            Kat’s heart wrenched painfully as she nodded. She knew the information she had in her head was dangerous and to tell her older brother would put him in great danger as well. As it was she knew she would be under investigation by NEST, the Autobots, and if they caught wind of her the Decepticons as well. Kat quickly came up with a solution if she was to get caught so her brother would get his answers and be safe. If her theory was correct, then it was Major Lennox who was pushing for Josh to sign an exclusive military contract. He would be safe then if that was the case as Lennox would also pull him into the NEST program as that’s where the mini-sabot rounds would go.

            For now though she was content to let her older brother hold her and she would deal with the future when it became today. Josh seemed reluctant to let his baby sister go, but had to when she complained about how she smelled. “I should get to work anyway,” he sighed. “I’ll look into what you were talking about while I’m there.”

            The smile Kat gave him lifted his heart if only for a moment. “Thanks big brother,” Kat sighed. “I’ll call you later okay?” Josh nodded and found himself gently pushed out the door. Once her brother had left her loft Kat sagged against the door for a moment then headed for the bathroom. She was going to get her shower in and no one was going to stop her. As she got the grime from yesterday’s accident off her skin she wondered how she was going to find the SSC and which Autobot was using it as an alt-form. The car was blazing fast, so fast it was rumored to be a race car turned civilian. Kat ran threw her information on the Autobots and snorted when she realized who the SSC was.

            “Hot Rod you slagger I didn’t think you’d show up,” she muttered turning the water off and quickly toweling of so she could rewrap her ribs. “You weren’t in the second movie… but then again what did Bay actually get right other than the advanced team.” Kat shook her head again and dressed. “Now to find you and figure out why the hell you haven’t contacted Optimus. Damaged circuits maybe?” As she thought about what little she knew about Cybertronian and their anatomy and sighed. It was something that Ratchet would be the best to fix, but she might have the parts if Hot Rod knew what needed fixing and was up to a human mucking around with his insides.

            Kat finished putting herself together and was about to head out on the streets when she got a knock at her door. Sighing, Kat checked to see that her guns were on her person before she looked through the peep-hole. “Who is it?” she demanded through the door frowning.

            “Barri-Detective Bar Cade,” a rough voice said and Kat’s eyes widened. “I’m here to talk to you about your accident Miss O’Malley.”

            Kat’s face paled and she quietly cat walked to her back door/wrap around porch/fire escape. Barricade’s alt form was in her parking lot, so Kat was able to quickly make it to the ground when she heard his roar of furry. She knew she couldn’t let the Decepticons get her so she ran, taking back alleys and small roads. Kat wasn’t sure how long she ran, but no matter what twists and turns she took, the cop disguised Decepticon was on her tail. Kat’s ribs began to protest violently as her body tried to get more oxygen into her lungs when she suddenly remembered something her father once told her. “Don’t run unless you have a safe place to hide. It just makes you dead and tired.”

            _Got to find a place to hide!_ She thought panicked slightly. She didn’t want to have to use the mini-sabot’s unless she had to as she didn’t want to explain their use to her brother. Looking around at her surroundings she figured out that she was heading towards the down town area. Pushing herself to her limits she never noticed that she ran by the very truck that had hit her a day before, or the SSC she had been thinking of a few blocks later. It was that SSC that pealed out behind the Decepticon and raced ahead to swing around and scoop the girl up into its interior as Ironhide chased Barricade, never once noticing the SSC or the girl inside. Kat bit back a scream as the car scooped her up and a seatbelt was thrown over her person.

            “Hang on!” a hard tenor ordered from the stereo and they quickly disappeared from the downtown area. Once it was apparent that Barricade wasn’t following them the car slowed down. “Are you okay?”

            Kat coughed as her body tried to regain its breath and her ribs protested. Damn broken rib. “I’ll live,” she informed him once she wasn't in danger of hyperventilation. “Thanks. May I ask who I’m addressing?” The Autobot seemed to realize that she knew he was something more for he spluttered a bit. “I mean, I know you’re an Autobot, but I’m not sure which one though I do have some theories.”

            “Names Hot Rod,” the ‘bot finally answered. “How do you know about the Autobots?”

            “That explanation is far too long, extremely complicated, and something not even I understand,” Kat replied. “Quite frankly I’m more consurned about ending up in Decepticon hands. I have a few questions if you don’t mind.”

            Hot Rod growled and spun to a halt. They were miles outside of town, heading right up into the mountains near her home between Poncha Springs and Colorado Springs. Hot Rod spat her out and transformed to hover over her threateningly. “Tell me how you know the Autobots!”

            Kat pit back a yelp as her broken ribs were jarred from being thrown around before she glared up at him. “You won’t believe me if I tell you,” she told him and when he raised an hand threateningly she sighed. “Fine. I was in a car accident yesterday, and during that accident I apparently shifted realities, which is something I originally thought was only theory. Where I’m from, you are part of several series of TV shows, movies, video games, and a ton of other merchandise. Proof? Your name is Hot Rod, your alt mode varies but is always something that goes unbelievably fast so it’s no surprise you took a SSC Ultimate Aero, you are best friends with the twins Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, you three are considered the King of Pranks, and you love to drive Ratchet, Ironhide, Prowl, Jazz, and Wheeljack nuts with your unending pranks. Your boss is Optimus Prime, alt mode Peterbuilt truck, leader of the Autobots, and known leader.”

            Hot Rod fell back stunned at the information she gave him. “Realities?” he finally asked.

            Kat nodded and slowly got to her feet, dusting off her hands as she did so. “Where I’m from you are part of a series of fictional things. Now, for some reason I have Barricade after my aft, probably because Ironhide hit me in both realities and I’m wearing NEST tags. So I have a proposition for you. You get me back to my loft so I can pick some gear up then out to the middle of nowhere so I can hide until all of this blows over and I’ll tell you your companions alt forms and how to find them. Deal?”

            Hot Rod stared at her as she stared up at him. “And why are you running from the Autobots as well?” he asked mistrustfully.

            Kat sighed and winced as her ribs protested again. Almost absently she wrapped an arm around the worst protesting section. “Because they will be like you and have questions as to why I know what I do and I am not getting locked up!” she snapped up at him, her paitents finally worn away by her pain. “So do we have a deal?”

            Hot Rod reeled back shocked by her tone and her body posture. From what little he knew of humans, her actions were not normal.  With that running through his processors he ran a scan over the young woman. “You’re damaged,” he stated and quickly transformed only to open the door. “How in Primus’s name were you able to out run Barricade with so much damage?” he asked from his radio.

            “Practice,” Kat stated dryly as she gingerly got in. “Do you believe me Hot Rod? Do we have a deal?”

            The Transformer was quite for a moment as they got back on the road then highway. “I do,” he finally answered. “And I promise I will not allow you to be locked up and to help you find somewhere safe to hide.”

            Kat nodded thankfully and leaned back against the seat. “Okay, first Optimus Prime. His alt form is as I said, a Peterbuilt truck with flame decals. The next one here on Earth is Ironhide, his alt form is a GMC Topkick pickup truck, black in color. Bumblebee is here as a 2009 Chevrolet Camaro. Then there’s Ratchet who’s disguised as a Hummer H2 Search and Rescue Truck. And Jazz…” Kat sighed painfully as she thought about the of-lined Autobot. “Megetron tore him apart in the battle for Mission City. He was a Pontiac Solstice GXP.” Kat bowed her head silently in memory of the fallen hero before she continued. “They are working with a Captain, or soon to be Major, William Lennox and Sergeant, or soon to be Master Sergeant Robert Epps of the United States Military Special Forces and Air Force Division. They along with several other nations will be putting together a unit called NEST, Networked Elements: Supporters and Transformers and will take out Decepticons all over the world. They will be the best defenders that Earth will ever see.”

            Kat let Hot Rod process what she told him and as he drove she relaxed against the seat. “Why are you telling me all of this?” he finally asked.

            Kat sighed. “I always keep my deals. No matter what,” she said calmly.

            Hot rod sighed at that. “I also always keep my end of a deal. Where do you live?” Kat relayed the information and settled back to rest and thought about what she had packed and needed to pack before she could leave.

            Soon Hot Rod was outside her shop. “Pull into the garage. Also, if you see something to help with your systems if they are damaged. If I can I’ll work on them before I disappear completely.” Hot Rod did as he was bid and watcher her disappear up through the half story office and then further into a loft apartment before he transformed and looked around.

            Meanwhile Kat checked her apartment to see if there was any damage from Barricade and was relieved where she found none. Checking her pack she quickly threw in some rice and packed spices as she called her brother. “Kat?” Josh asked the second he picked up and Kat had to frown at the apparent panic in his voice. “Kat where are you! I just was informed you ran from a cop and had disappeared!”

            Kat paled worriedly at that. “Joshua, where are you at and who’s with you?” she demanded.

            “At the office meeting the military Major and a liaison, why?” Josh demanded back.

            Kat felt some color come back into her face at that. Military and liaison meant witnesses, which helped reduce the probability that her brother could get hurt. “Josh, the officer that I was running from, he’s a terrorist by the name of Barricade,” Kat informed him quickly. “I think he thinks’ I’m connected to a project called NEST. I need to disappear. I’m going off the grid. Take care of my place for me. Love you brother.”

            “Kat? Kat!” Josh tried to cry only for the line to go dead.

000000000000000000000

            “Kat? Kat!” Josh cried into the receiver only for a dial tone to reach his ears. “Damn it!” he swore, tossing the receiver into the cradle. The uniformed man sitting in front of the desk raised an eyebrow as the usual calm man ranted and raved at his younger sibling; seemingly uncaring that he had company that wasn't the target of his ire. The uniformed man's companion, a business man in a red dress shirt and blue suite also raised an eyebrow at the display of anger.

            “I take it that you didn’t get good news,” Major Lennox asked mildly.

            Josh, finally realizing that someone else was in the room, calmed immediately. “Indeed. My sister just informed me that the cop that she was apparently “running” from was actually a terrorist by the name of Barricade and she has to go off the grid due to the fact _he_ though she was part of the project you are trying to get me to sign into.” Josh’s eyes narrowed when Lennox actually jumped at the name. “You know the man that is causing my sister to in essence disappear from all of human contact?” he growled.

            Lennox cleared his throat uncertainly and looked to his companion. The brown haired, blue eyed man sighed. “Indeed. He’s one of many terrorists we’ve been tracking for months now,” Tim Primouse stated, his deep baritone voice rebating. Josh was suddenly struck with the thought that this suit wearing man would be better in a cowboy’s gear. “The question is why he thinks your sister is involved with NEST.”

            Josh suddenly made the connection of the acronym and the paperwork before him and had to sink into his chair as his knees failed to hold him up. “I may know why,” he said slowly and the two men looked at him. “My sister said some odd things as of late and asked me to look into something. The attack on Mission City, Nevada. She doesn’t believe your cover story Major. And quite frankly, after hearing my sister talk, neither do I.” Josh then turned his gaze to a calm Tim Primouse. “She also had a message for you and your employee that I don’t believe Sergeant Cross has had a chance to deliver. She said, ‘Ironhide is fraging lucky that a few broken ribs is all that happened and to have Doc Hatchet take a look at his front sensors’. That was the only explanation she left as to why she wasn’t pressing charges.”

            Even Primouse paled at that statement. “Your sister is in very grave danger then,” he said worriedly.

            “Mr. O’Malley,” Lennox spoke up then. “If you sign those papers, we can tell you how much danger your sister is in.”

            Josh glared at the men for a moment before swiftly signing his name on several security clearance papers. “Now tell me what my sister has found out now,” he ordered.

            Lennox looked the paper work over then nodded to Primouse. The other man nodded and the two stood. “Follow us,” Lennox ordered. Josh only paused to pick up his cell phone and put on his trench coat before he followed the two men out of the office. “Ma’am, please inform Mr. O’Malley’s appointments that he will no longer be in the office today.” Lennox commanded the secretary who nodded and began making calls.

            “Kelly, get everyone out of here early,” Josh added and followed the two men outside. Major Lennox had him get into his truck and got in the driver’s side. “My patience will not last forever,” he informed the man.

            “I understand that Mr. O’Malley,” Lennox replied with a sigh. “Just a few minutes is all I ask.” Josh snorted but fell silent as they drove outside city limits and several other cars fell in behind them. A Peterbuilt truck, a 2009 yellow Camaro, and a H2 Search and Rescue truck, fell into place behind Lennox’s truck. “They’re with me,” Lennox informed Josh when he caught the man watching them warily. “Here we are.” Lennox pulled of far outside the outskirts of the city into a glade and the other cars followed. As the two men got out Lennox continued, “Mr. O’Malley, please understand there are going to be things that will surprise and possibly scare you, but this is what your sister somehow discovered.”

            Josh stared at the man with a raised eyebrow only to pull his guns as sound of metal changing reached his ears. Turning around he gapped as the vehicles transformed into tall, two-legged creatures. “What the hell?” he demanded staring at them as two teens stood at the feet of the smaller yellow one.

            “Mr. O’Malley, meet the Autobots, Sam Witwicky, and Mikaela Banes,” Major introduced. “Autobots, meet the creator of the mini-sabots and your new teammate. His sister is the one Ironhide accidentally hit yesterday.”

            The one called Ironhide shook his head as Josh slowly lowered his guns. “Never saw her until it was too late. It was like she came out of nowhere!”

            “Kat has the tendency to do that,” Josh said slowly. “It’s a gift our mother trained us in, though Kat is more proficient in it than I.”

            “My name is Optimus Prime,” the largest bot introduced himself. “You also know me as Tim Primouse. I am the leader of the Autobots. Mr. O’Malley, how much does your sister know about us and NEST?”


	3. Oh My God!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kat's going on the run. Josh is about to learn just how little he really knows. And the Autobots are about to learn never to mess with an O'Malley when they are tying to save everyone. It's all in a day's work.

         Kat sighed as she disconnected the call and took her cell phone apart, but kept the pieces in case she needed them and finished putting her back up plan in place. Picking up her iPod she put on her trench coat, checking to see that her guns were still loaded and in their holsters, and pulled on her combat/hiking boots. After slipping her longer daggers into the boot tops she triple checked everything as a familiar holo-form appeared at her door. Hot Rod’s form had tanned skin and an easy smile with flyaway red hair and worried light blue eyes. Kat nearly snorted when it was the exact image of the boy she had been eyeing when the accident happened. “I pulled a few circuits that can be used to repair my damaged ones,” he informed her. “Need help with anything?” he asked looking around.

         Kat shook her head. “I got it,” she informed him, pulling the backpack on her back. “But we need to go. There’s no telling when the Decepticons will show up and I want to be long gone.” Hot Rod nodded and disappeared. Kat raced down the stairs and hopped into Hot Rod’s alt form. “Let’s go.”

         Hot Rod just sped out of the garage. “Is there a place you can hide?” he finally asked.

         Kat nodded. “If you can get me deep into national forest, I can hide easily. Do you need me to fix anything?”

         Hot Rod grunted and the stereo opened up to show damaged wires. “Think you can handle it?” he asked. “If we get jumped I’m going to need to call for help, though I swear I will get you out afterwards.”

         “Done,” Kat smirked and began working on the wires, replacing ones that looked like they had been burned and fixing loose ones using only her knife. “How’s that feel?” she asked after examining the circuitry once more. “It working?”

          Hot Rod put everything in place and let out a warm hum. “As good as new,” he replied pleased. “You’re a great mechanic.”

         “Thanks,” Kat sighed settling back and putting her knife away. “My parent’s never understood my obsession with machines but at least they supported it.”

         Hot Rod laughed at that. “I can’t say I understand but I can try. Is it like pulling a prank?”

         Kat’s snort of laughter caught him off guard. “Not the way you, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe pull ‘em,” she commented dryly. “I honestly think you still have some dents from Ratchet due to some of these pranks.”

         Hot Rod’s holo-form popped up so she had someone to really look at. “How do you know so much about us?” he finally asked.

         Kat sighed and leaned back. “Somehow, when I was hit yesterday I ended up traveling dimensions. To be honest, it’s only something my mother, brother, and I only studied in theory, as we didn’t think it was possible even with what we knew. But now I’m here and I’m sitting in an Autobot.” Kat sighed and looked at him. “I know Autobot weaknesses and strengths. I also know the same for your enemies. I do not want to be used against either side.”

         Hot Rod stared at her for a moment then pretended to look back at the road. “I see,” he said softly. “I swear I’ll keep you safe.”

         “Thanks Rody,” Kat whispered and the two fell silent. Suddenly they had police lights in their rear view mirror. “Slagg, it’s Barricade,” Kat swore when she looked back. “Can you out run him again?”

         “I can unless he has help which means I call in the big guns,” he replied and tightened the seat belt on Kat. “Hang on.” Kat’s only response was to grab the safety handle above her as Hot Rod kicked it into highest gear and began weaving through Colorado Spring’s crazy traffic. Kat could tell he was having some trouble as Barricade particularly welded himself to Hot Rod’s aft. “Frag it I can’t shake him,” Hot Rod finally growled. “I’m calling in some help and taking down this slagger.”

         “Fine, take the next left and then three streets take a right. It will lead you down to the warehouse district. There aren’t a lot of people down there that we need to worry about as far as getting in the way,” Kat tensely relayed to him. Hot Rod did as he was told as he sent his distress to the nearby Autobots. Just as he arrived at the large warehouses the sound of a fighter jet also reached their ears. “Well, damn Starscream is here,” Kat deadpanned nervously when she caught sight of the plane. “We’re screwed.”

         “Optimus and the others are on their way,” Hot Rod informed her. “Just hang on a little longer!”

         Kat’s grip tightened as he took hairpin turns to avoid the sonic blasts from Starscream as Barricade cut him off at every angle. Finally they spotted good news in the form of Optimus, Ratchet, Ironhide, and Bumblebee racing for them. “The Calvary has arrived,” she chirped in false joy. “Okay, I’m getting out of you so you can transform.” Kat had the door open and Hot Rod spun to a stop as she flew out, rolled, and disappeared behind some crates. Kat winced as she felt more of her ribs break but kept low. She heard Hot Rod transform within seconds and peeked out to see what was going on.

         Starscream and Barricade also transformed and pounced on Hot Rod, who fortunately was ready for them. “Decepti-punks,” he snarled tossing Barricade off and knocking Starscream into the nearby building. “You need to learn some manners.”

         “Autobot scum,” Starscream hissed. “I will enjoy tearing you apart.”

         “The human femme is near,” Barricade rumbled.

         Starscream nodded to the cop at that. “Find her and catch her. She may be of use to us,” he ordered before facing a charging Hot Rod. “I will take care of this Autobot punk.”

         “As you order Starscream,” Barricade sneered and transformed, heading for Kat’s hiding spot. Kat panicked and pulled out an old trick her mother taught her. She sighed in relief when Barricade raced by her without once seeing her. Unfortunately for him, Barricade ran into the oncoming Autobots. Realizing he was out numbered and out gunned Barricade turned tail and ran. He didn’t even bother in transforming. The Autobots paused to let their human allies out before transforming and charging into battle. Starscream ended up flying away furious but unable to do anything else without proper back up.

         Now that the threat was gone Kat began to make her way quietly towards the forest, just on the other side of the warehouse. However, Ironhide caught sight of her and transformed to block her path. “You’re not going anywhere,” he growled at her. Kat forsake being quite at that and vaulted over the transformer.

         Ironhide followed her movements shocked as she grabbed Sam, who had been looking around close by, and put her gun to his head. “Come any closer to me and I swear the boy will die,” she promised even though her body was fighting her as coughs began to build.

         “Wait! What did I ever do to you?!” Sam yelped. “I mean, I know I’ve made my fair share of enemies-”

         “Shut up,” Kat ordered and squeezed his arm to get her point across. Sam fell silent with a small meep. “Now, you and I are going to a walk. Understand?” she hissed. Sam nodded franticly and let her direct him. Kat knew she was in trouble when the Autobots went to surround her. “One step closer and we all get to see what a mini-sabot round does to a human skull at close range,” she called and the Autobots froze. The humans however, had no such qualms. Lennox, Mikaela, and Josh started to race for her and her captive. “Brother, I am not kidding.”

         Josh heard the seriousness in her voice and stopped Lennox and Mikaela from getting closer. While throwing an arm out stopped Lennox, Josh had to wrap his arms around Mikaela to keep her from accidentally killing her boyfriend by her stubbornness. “Kat, what the hell is going on?” he demanded, his eyes taking in everything and focusing on her sharply. “Who was that and why the hell are you threatening the kid?”

         “He’s insurance big brother,” Kat informed him as a cough finally made it past her lips. “I’m not sticking around here. I can’t afford to.”

         “Katherine Annabelle O’Malley what the hell are you talking about?” Josh snapped furiously.

         Mikaela tried to kick him as she yelled, “That doesn’t matter! She’s going to kill Sam!” Josh grimaced and picked the teen up so she didn’t hurt him or herself. “BUMBLEBEE!” The scout whined at the girl but didn’t move to get his charge. Mikaela saw this and fought Josh harder.

         “Oh I don’t need this,” Josh growled, loud enough for Kat to hear and hit a pressure point on the girl’s neck, causing her to pass out.

         “MIKAELA!” Sam yelled and was about to head for his girlfriend when Kat’s gun reminded him exactly where he was. He looked out of the corner of his eye to at the barrel of the gun and paled further.

         “Your girlfriend is fine,” Kat informed him, coughing again. She could feel one of her ribs scrape dangerously against her right lung and knew she needed to get away soon if she wanted at least a chance at keeping her information out of either party’s hands. “Josh just hit a pressure point so she doesn’t hurt him, herself, or get you killed.” Sam kept quite as she forced him to walk backwards. “Now, all of you are going to stay exactly where you are. Sam and I are going for a ride.” Hot Rod took that as his cue to transform and drive up behind her. “Sam, put your hands behind your back.” Sam did as he was told and felt zip ties slip over his wrists. Kat kept her gun on him as she put him in the car and disappeared on the other side. Hot Road took off quickly and the other Autobots transformed and began to follow.

         What they never saw was Kat, slipping into the tree line. She knew Hot Rod would lead the Autobots on a merry chase through the city and keep them away from her. He would keep his promise and she would remain free. Kat paused when coughs shook her body and swore when she saw blood on her hand. She shook her head and pulled out her iPod and slipped the ear buds into her ear. She turned it on to random and smiled when an appropriate song came on. When her favorite verse came up she softly sang with. “ _[Oh my god](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqeyisb688), why are we so afraid? We make it worse when we don’t bleed; there is no cure for our disease. Turn a phrase and rise again. Or fake your death and only tell your closest friend. Oh my god._ ” Kat paused again to cough as more blood left her mouth this time. She sighed and finally found a place to rest and sat down. She didn’t have long before her wounds got serious, and to be honest she was okay with it. At least she got a good fight out of it.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000

(Earlier with the Autobots)

         “ _Mr. O’Malley, how much does your sister know about us and NEST?_ ”

         Josh just blinked up at Optimus for a moment as he processed what was said. “I honestly don’t know,” he finally breathed. “When my sister learns something that’s not common knowledge she keeps it close to the vest. She won’t even tell me unless I’m neck deep in something or already know about it.”

         “Do you have any idea how she learned about NEST or the Autobots?” Lennox asked.

         Josh thought about it and shook his head. “No, but I have a feeling everything came to fruition in the accident she was in yesterday. You said she came out of nowhere?”  Ironhide nodded confused. “Kat said that you might need your front sensors checked as well.”

         Ratchet spoke up at that. “My scan’s indicate everything is functioning just fine,” he informed the human.

         Josh sighed at that. “Then I need to look into our mother’s theory of alternate dimensions,” he muttered and started passing in front of the confused aliens and humans. “But how could such a transfer be possible? There was no energy transference of any….” Suddenly Josh pulled up short as him mind connected the dots. “Life transference,” he whispered horrified.

         Lennox gently put a hand on the man’s arm. “Mr. O’Malley, what are you muttering about?” he asked, slightly concerned for the mentality of his new teammate. If this man went nuts, he was going to feel the backlash of this from the brass.

         “It’s only a theory,” Josh said looking at the other man. “And I’ll need to get my sister before I can be certain.”

         Optimus’s head tilted for a second. “Well, you are going to get that chance. We just received an Autobot distress signal. It’s Hot Rod and your sister is with him.”

         Josh paled. “Let’s go then!” he cried and the Autobot quickly transformed.

         Optimus opened his door to the black haired human. “Get in Mr. O’Malley,” Optimus rumbled and Josh did as ordered.

         “Call me Josh,” he asked as they took off down the road. “Hearing Mr. O’Malley makes me want to look around for my grandfather.”

         Optimus Googled the O’Malley family and hummed. “Your father was Major O’Malley?” he asked curiously.

         Josh grunted as he watched the scenery fly by. “Yes, he was,” Josh murmured. “He was a great man. Kat takes after him so much sometimes I almost see dad instead of my sister.” Optimus kept quite when suddenly Josh chuckled. “At least, until you try to talk sciences, mathematics, or anything not mechanics, music, or fighting.”

         Optimus chuckled as well and began speeding up. “We need to hurry I’m afraid. Barricade and Starscream have trapped one of my own.” Josh nodded and looked around, noticing that they were in the warehouse district.

         “That’s good,” he murmured as he took in the location. “Less humans in the area. And what is that?” he asked pointing at the oncoming cop car.

         “That would be Barricade’s alt form,” Optimus informed their new teammate. “Hold on tight!” Barricade took one scan of the oncoming group and pulled a 180 to take off in the opposite direction. He knew he was outmatched and out gunned. The Autobots paused to let their human allies out before transforming and charging into battle. Starscream ended up flying away cursing violently but unable to do anything else without proper back up.

         “Good to see a ‘con run,” Ironhide chuckled looking around. His scans caught something curious out of the corner of his optics and saw Kat trying to sneak away. “No ya’ don’t,” he growled transforming and racing to block her path. “You’re not going anywhere,” he growled at her. He gapped as Kat leapt over his hood and reached Sam, who had been looking around the other crates for the said girl. She pulled Sam’s arm behind him and put a gun to the teen’s head.

         “Come any closer to me and I swear the boy will die,” she promised even though Ironhide’s scans showed she was hiding coughs.

         “Wait! What did I ever do to you?!” Sam yelped as he tried to struggle in her grip. For a small little thing, she had an iron grip. He was going to have buries later. “I mean, I know I’ve made my fair share of enemies-”

         “Shut up,” Kat ordered and squeezed his arm to get her point across. Sam fell silent with a small, panicked gulp. “Now, you and I are going to a walk. Understand?” she hissed. Sam nodded franticly and let her direct him. Ironhide sent what he had heard and the others quickly went to surround her and he transformed to join them. “One step closer and we all get to see what a mini-sabot round does to a human skull at close range,” she called and the Autobots froze at the obvious threat to their friend. The humans however, had no such hesitations. Lennox, Mikaela, and Josh started to race for her and her captive. “Brother, I am not kidding.”

         Josh heard the seriousness in her voice and stopped Lennox and Mikaela from getting closer. While throwing an arm out stopped Lennox, Josh had to wrap his arms around Mikaela to keep her from accidentally killing her boyfriend. The girl’s stubbornness was borderline stupid if not crazy. “Kat, what the hell is going on?” he demanded, yanking Mikaela back and pinning the girl’s arms to her sides. Less ways for her to hurt him that way. “Who was that and why the hell are you threatening the kid?”

         “He’s insurance big brother,” Kat informed him as a cough finally made it past her lips. Josh froze for a second when he saw the coughs rattle her small frame. That was all sorts of not good. “I’m not sticking around here. I can’t afford to.”

         “Katherine Annabelle O’Malley what the hell are you talking about?” Josh snapped furiously, though the furry was to hide the fear. He knew the risks she was under with broken and cracked ribs, and her coughing was not a good thing. However, that thought was chased from his head as he had to keep the small girl in his arms from hurting him or her boy.

         Mikaela tried to kick him as she yelled, “That doesn’t matter she’s going to kill Sam!” Josh grimaced and picked the teen up so she didn’t hurt him or herself in her thrashings. “BUMBLEBEE!” The scout whined at the girl but didn’t move to get his charge. Mikaela saw this and fought Josh harder.

         “Oh I don’t need this,” Josh growled with an exasperated sound and hit a pressure point on the girl’s neck, causing her to pass out. Now that she was out he slung her over his shoulder with a grimace.

         “MIKAELA!” Sam yelled and was about to head for his girlfriend when Kat’s gun reminded him exactly where he was. He looked out of the corner of his eye to at the barrel of the gun and paled further.

         “Your girlfriend is fine,” Kat informed him, coughing again. By now even Ratchet was concerned though he stayed back. “Josh just hit a pressure point so she doesn’t hurt him, herself, or get you killed.” Sam kept quite as she forced him to walk backwards. “Now, all of you are going to stay exactly where you are. Sam and I are going for a ride.” Hot Rod took that as his cue to transform and drive up behind her with an apologetic look to Optimus. “Sam, put your hands behind your back.” They watched as Sam complied and grimaced. Josh winced when he realized she used zip ties on the teen. Kat kept her gun on him as she put him in the car and disappeared on the other side. “Hot Rod, take Sam across the city and lead the Autobots away from this area. And thank you,” she ordered as she shifted her bags further up onto her back. Hot Road took off quickly and the other Autobots transformed and began to follow. Hot Rod lead them on a merry chance through the city before he finally stopped at her shop.

         His holo-form stepped out and pulled Sam out and set the teen on his feet once more. Josh leapt out of Optimus’s alt form and raced for the car. “She’s not here,” Hot Rod informed him softly. “I was the distraction.” Once he was sure Sam had his feet again he let go of the teen and stepped back.

         Josh swore but pulled his knife to cut the zip ties off of the confused Sam. “You okay,” he grunted, checking the kid over.

         “I’m fine,” Sam said a little weakly. Josh suddenly held him still and pulled something out of his jacket pocket. “What’s that?”

         “It’s a video chip,” Josh replied looking it over. “Kat must have slipped it in your pocket when she tied you up.”

         Lennox came over and looked at the chip himself. “How did she do that without Sam noticing and keeping a gun on him?” he asked.

         Josh snorted at that. “She’s one of the best pickpockets I’ve ever seen,” he informed the military man. He looked it over and analyzed what he knew of the chip. “I have the equipment to display this back at the office. You’ll all have room to transform there as well.”

         Optimus sighed and rocked back on his axles. “Very well. Sam, Mikaela is unconscious in Bumblebee. Go join her.” Sam just nodded to the boss bot and quickly got inside his guardian. “Hot Rod I am disappointed in you.”

         “Don’t be Prime,” Hot Rod replied. “I am keeping my promise to her to keep her safe and out of Autobot or Decepticon hands.” Not was another word was said as Josh once more got inside of Optimus and Lennox got inside of Ironhide. The ride back to Josh’s offices was a silent one as everyone thought about what had just happened. Josh directed them into the back warehouses where everyone was set up around a projection screen. Josh put the chip into the computer and pulled up the only video file up.

         Kat’s face came up and Josh could see her packing as it recorded. Finally she stopped and smiled at the camera. “Hi big brother, Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Ratchet, Bumblebee, Major Lennox and Hot Rod. If you guys are watching this…. Well, Josh you’re in the NEST program. Congrats big brother! I’m sure you’ll be able to help them out greatly. NEST needs smart people in the program. Optimus, Major Lennox, I’m sorry if I’m causing you distress, but I will not be used against you, your enemies, or my own people. I know a lot about you and your kind, names, functions, you name it. Same with your enemies. No Ironhide, I’m not a Decepticon.” Ironhide, who had just opened his mouth to say just that snapped his mouth shut with a look of shock. “I just know a lot of things. I can’t really explain it. Anyway, Hot Rod, I got a feeling that you are going to end up being a distraction for me. Barricade was very determined to get me earlier. And Ratchet can you check Sam’s voice out for me? Call it professional curiosity but the boy screams like a girl.”

         Sam blushed at that statement as Hot Rod, Bumblebee, and Mikaela (who finally came too) laughed at that. “She’s got you pegged,” Hot Rod laughed. “I swear, some of those turns had you screaming so badly I thought my audio processors would burst.”

         “How did she know how I sounded?” Sam asked, beating back his blush. “I never screamed in front of her.”  The group fell silent as they thought about it. “How does she know so much?”

         Josh just shook his head and started from where he paused the video. “Anyway, I’m disappearing,” Kat sighed. “Josh, I’m sorry but you won’t be able to find me. While you got dad’s brains, I got mom’s talents.  Sorry big brother. I love you more than you know. Major Lennox… keep him safe for me. He’s all I got left.” With that the video ended.

         Josh sighed and shut the computer down. “What is she talking about Joshua?” Optimus rumbled overhead.

         Josh rubbed his forehead at that. Finally he said, “Kat and my mother had a theory on dimensions. That there was a way for people to travel between dimensions. It’s said to be accidental, through transferences of energy like lightning bolts, electric shocks, and the like. I believe that Kat slipped through dimensions when she was hit by your Ironhide. Either that or another theory they posed was threat dimensions could collide. Either way, the Kat we are looking for is still my sister. And we need to find her soon.”

         “Why is that?” Mikaela asked pouting slightly. She didn’t like the woman who had threatened her boyfriend.

         Josh spun on the girl and almost back handed her in his sudden rage. “BECAUSE SHE’S GOING TO DIE IF WE DON’T!” he roared. Mikaela reeled back from the man’s upward swing but noticed he stopped before he would hit her. Josh sighed and closed his eyes painfully, dropping the upraised hand to cover his eyes in anguish. “Every rib in my sister’s body was either fractured or broken when Ironhide hit her,” he said slowly. Ratchet cursed in cybertornian at that. He had a fair idea where this was going. “This fight she was in caused one of the ribs to either puncture or scratch one of her lungs. She was coughing up blood. Take a look at your boyfriend’s shirt.” Ratchet scanned Sam as Mikaela and Lennox looked. True to Josh’s word there were specks of blood decorating the shoulder Kat had been looming over. He didn’t need to see their horror as he ran the hand down his face and stared at the ceiling blankly. “She will drown in her own blood soon or the lung will deflate. Either way she’ll suffocate and die.”

         “We need to find her then,” Optimus rumbled and he looked at Hot Rod to see if he would argue. The bot just looked scared for the girl who helped him. “We’ll split up. Joshua, where do you think she’ll go?”

         “The forest,” Josh replied instantly. “Most likely National Forest. It will be easier for her to hide there.”

         Optimus nodded and analyzed a map of the area. “We’ll start in the area near the warehouses and spread out.” Everyone nodded and took off in their different directions while Bumblebee, Ironhide, and Optimus took the humans to help them. As he drove Hot Rod cursed himself for listening to her orders and not noticing that she was coughing up blood.

         He reached the area and quickly took his road. He raced a long as fast as he dared and scanned every inch of the road. They kept up at it for hours and finally Optimus radioed to have the Autobots come back. “Slag it!” Hot Rod swore and was about to do as ordered when suddenly a sweet soprano voice reached his audio processors.

         “ _Sometime I cannot forgive and there day’s mercy cuts so deep. If the world was how it should be maybe I could get some sleep. While I lay, I dream we’re better; scales were gong and faces lighter. When we wake we hate our brother. We still move to hurt each other. Sometimes I can close my eyes and all the fear that keeps me silent falls below my heavy breathing. What makes me so badly meant? We all have a chance to murder. We all feel need for wonder. We still want to be reminded that the pain is worth the thunder,_ ” the voice sang. Hot Rod came to a stop and quickly transformed to follow the hypnotizing voice that came from deeper in the woods. “ _Sometimes when I lose my grip, I wonder what to make of heaven. All the times I thought to reach up. All the times I had to give. Babies underneath their beds. Hospitals that cannot treat. All the wounds that money causes. All the comforts of cathedrals! All the cries of thirsty children. This is our inheritance! All the rage of watching mothers, this is our greatest offense! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!_ ” What Hot Rod came across brought fluid to his optics. Kat was leaning against a tree, singing softly as blood trickled down her chin. She was so out of it she never noticed his holo-form picking her up, nor the hair-raising ride they went on. Hot Rod sped up as his sensors detected that she had been singing while in a state of alternative mental state, not unconscious but really close to it and he raced to get her to Ratchet. Hopefully the medic could save her life.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song mentioned in this chapter is Oh My God, by Jars of Clay. Feel free to listen to it. I love it.  
> Link to song is here ---> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqeyisb688


	4. Hospitals and Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hot Rod managed to find Katherine just in the nick of time. In his hast to make sure the young human lived, he forgot one thing. She was hiding form everyone. Including the Autobots. Thankfully Josh isn't a pushover either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any songs mentioned in this fic do not belong to me. At all.

**Chapter 4**

**Hospitals and Questions**

         The slow beeping of a heart monitor was the only constant thing Josh could latch on to other than the extremely slow rise and fall of his sister’s chest. Ratchet had thrown a fit when Josh refused to let him treat his sister but he felt that he had made the right choice. When Hot Rod had appeared with his sister unconscious inside of him Ratchet had wanted to have the girl flown to their sub-base for treatment. Josh snorted when he thought about that argument.

         Josh glared up at the Autobots furiously from his spot in front of Hot Rod's alt form. They had returned to his offices to regroup when Hot Rod had neatly spun in with his precious cargo carefully secured inside. Needless to say, the argument had spiraled rather quickly. Now Josh was standing between the other humans and Hot Rod while fighting with the Autobots. Mostly Ratchet. “My sister ran from you and you want to go and trap her in your base?” he yelled incredulously at the tall medic. “Not a chance in hell!”

         “I agree with her brother,” Hot Rod sent from his radio as he refused to let any of the Autobots pull her out from inside him. He had even locked his doors as a precaution, one that he was glad for when even Major Lennox tried to pull Kat out. Nervously he shifted back and forth on his tires. She needed help and soon. “I promised I’d help her get away and it’s by my servos that she’s back here. I will keep her from you. Mr. O’Malley, get in.” Josh glared at the other Autobots and did as Hot Rod demanded quickly. “Where will she feel safe for medical treatment?” Hot Rod asked once the older human was secure and he had peeled out of the parking lot. 

         “Memorial Medical,” Josh sighed. “We have a doctor there that knows us inside and out, quite literally.”

         Hot Rod just sped up and slid into the ER bay. Discreetly his holo-form appeared alongside Josh and the two carried her into the ER. “We need help!” Josh called and immediately his Doc was called and Kat was wheeled away.

         Josh sighed, shaking the memory away and cast a glance at the red haired surfer boy sitting across from him. The holo-forms were something else entirely and he was glad that Hot Rod, or Roderick Hotshock as he was having himself called, was able to help him. Kat deserved all the help she could get. “Josh, you’re doing it again,” Hot Rod sighed.

         “Sorry,” Josh apologized looking back down at Kat’s still form. It had taken a barked command from Josh to get the Autobot solider to call him by his first name, that and shortly afterwards Josh cracked a joke. Both of them relaxed significantly after that. “I was just thinking of the complexity of your holo-forms and how they are created,” he admitted after a moment.

         Hot Rod chuckled at that and lifted a hand to take a look at it. “It’s kind of like our alt-forms,” he admitted. “Our holo-forms are crafted using a program to configure an image and then we use a high concentration of electricity and nanites to make the form solid. Because of the nanites I can sit in this chair, however if I desired I could walk through walls or just disappear and the nanites would disperse and dissolve.”

         “Amazing,” Josh murmured, staring once more at his sister’s savor. “You and your people are very fascinating.”

         “I’m glad at least someone thinks that way and doesn’t want to take them apart,” Lennox joked with a sheepish grin as he walked into the room, dressed in his finest blues from before. These however looked to have been touched up since their impromptu fight. In his arms was a bouquet of tulips and there seemed to be people behind him. Both Josh and Hot Rod got in defensive positions before the comatose girl. “Easy!” Lennox cried, showing his empty hand in the universal peace sign since the other one held the plant. “We came to talk, that’s it.”

         “We?” Josh shot back. Lennox pulled his hat off and stepped into the room. Behind him was a big African/American guy with laughing brown eyes in a similar uniform as Lennox and carrying a _Get Well Soon!_ floral arrangement. Behind him was Optimus’s holo-form as well as three unknown men and the two teens. Each of them were carrying a different floral arrangement, except Mikaela who was pouting, though they stood by the door waiting for Josh’s assessment. “Introductions?” Josh finally asked.

         The big guy smiled and stepped in to set his arrangement down in the window. He even took Lennox’s arrangement and settled it next to his. “I’m Master Sergeant Robert Epps, NEST strike team member. Pleasure to meet you Mr. O’Malley, though I wish it was under better conditions.”

         Josh nodded to the man and turned to the gruff looking salt and peppered guy. “Ian Hyde to the civilians,” Ironhide’s voice came out of the man. He looked down at the arrangement of sunflowers and everyone got to see a small blush race across the tough guy’s cheeks. “I hope she like ‘em and I wanna apologize to ya’.” Josh nodded slowly and took Ironhide’s arrangement from him to put it right next to Kat’s bed.

         The next unknown to step up was a brown haired man with graying sides. “I’m called Dr. Ron Hatchet,” Ratchet introduced himself and held out a beautiful lavender, mint, and roses for Hot Rod to take. The bot set the flowers next to the ones already in the window. “All these plants are used in traditional healing medicine of your local Native Americans. And its aroma is sweet to help her heal.”

         Optimus stepped up with the unknown blond. “This is Evan Beechwood, or Bumblebee,” Optimus introduced the sheepish scout who was holding a teddy bear and rose as Optimus offered his arrangement of daises. “We’ve all come to apologize to your sister and you. She was right to run for her assumptions were correct. We would have originally used the information she says she has against the Decepticons, only to the downfall of ourselves.”

         Josh stared at them for a moment before casting a look to Hot Rod. The jokester gave a small nod to let him know Optimus wasn’t lying. “As long as you don’t try to take my sister away you can stay,” Josh finally sighed.

         Mikaela snorted. “Should have that crazy bitch locked up,” she muttered darkly.

         “Mikaela!” Sam cried, blushing in embarrassment. “You don’t know everything.”

         Josh sneered as well at the pouting girl. “Kid, if my sister wanted your boy dead she would have done it without hesitation nor would she have used her gun.”

         Mikaela paled at that. “What do you mean?” she whispered.

         Josh took the edible flower arrangement from the now pale Sam and set it on one of the shelves. That done he turned to stare flatly at the group as he prepared to simplify his sister's skill set. “Kat is an incredible girl and there some things she picks up easily. Music just flows from her voice and fingertips, she can take apart an engine and put it back together and have it running twice as well, and she can kill someone like Master Sergeant Epps or a big man like the person Ian is showing in less than three seconds.” Lennox and Epps paled and gapped at the unconscious girl. Josh saw their reactions out of the corner of his eye as he stared the punk girl down. This snot nosed brat needed to understand how close she was to getting herself beaten. “She is skilled in hand to hand combat, knife fighting, sword fighting, staff fighting, street fighting, and tonfa’s. Her gun of choice is .45 calibers, one of the nastiest calibers for a handgun and has a kick that would send your scrawny butt halfway across the room. Even with that kick she as a dime sized grouping at 100 yards in seconds.” Josh let that information sink in before he finally sat back into his chair at his sister’s side.

         The rather uncomfortable silence that cropped up afterwards made everyone shift nervously. Finally someone broke it. “How is she?” Sam asked quietly as Bumblebee came up and set a teddy bear beside her and put the rose the bear had been holding on the bedside table.

         Josh didn’t answer; he sank back into his chair grabbed his sister’s hand and stared at her peaceful face. “The Doc here says she’s comatose,” Hot Rod finally informed them with a sigh as he reclaimed his chair. “Every rib in her body is broken and one nearly punctured her lung with another coming close to scraping her heart. Internal bleeding came to a liter of lost blood. Her body is still recovering, and her ribs will need surgery to put them in the proper place for healing.”

         Ratchet’s holo-form scowled and picked up her chart, going over the information. “They expect her to be out for another week?” he asked not entirely shocked. The girl had a lot of damage to her body. Hot Rod just nodded. Ratchet racked his processors and then turned to Josh. “Mr. O’Malley, I would like to offer our medical assistance and knowledge to help your sister,” he said formerly. “While we can’t transport her until she is conscious, I believe I will be able to aid your sister’s recovery and make it quicker. And I have become quite skilled in tending to our human allies.”

         Josh looked up at the sincere man and turned his gaze back to his sister. “If she agrees,” Josh sighed. “My sister is of the age where she makes her own medical decisions. I’m only the default when she’s can’t do it herself.”

         Ratchet nodded, slightly pleased that they would at least consider it and looked to Optimus. He, Lennox and Epps had held a whispered conversation and finally came back over. “We never did ask, but how did you find her Hot Rod?” Optimus asked.

         “She was singing,” Hot Rod replied confused. “I don’t know how, but she was out of it completely and still singing.”

         Josh’s head shot up at that. “Of course,” he breathed. “Music!”

         Everyone blinked at him confused as he pulled out his sister’s iPod and a mini stereo. “What are you doing?” Sam asked curiously.

         Josh grinned at him. “Kat lives for music, that’s how Hot Rod was able to find her,” he pointed out as he hooked up the two machines hopefully. “Every time she gets really out of it she ends up singing the last song she heard. She didn’t fall into true unconsciousness until after Hot Rod found her and when the rib moved, causing further blood loss. Her music will help her recover faster!” With that he turned on the player and found it was already set to random. Pressing play he let the first song wash over the room. Within moments they heard a soft hum along with the music come from the bed.

000000000000000000000000000000

         The first thing Kat was aware of as she swam out of her unconscious state was the song _Anthem_ by Superchic[k] playing. It’s a good woman inspirational song. She absently began humming along with the tune as she began her assessment of her body. Ribs? All broken and two near organs they shouldn’t be. That meant surgery was in her future. Lovely. Slight scratching from one of the ribs in her right lung so breathing was difficult and oh yeah, she was in pain. What should be mind numbing, ‘oh god why am I awake and where is the morphine’ pain. Thank god for her abnormally high pain tolerance. But morphine would be nice. Maybe. Okay, maybe she was a little punch drunk. Time to wake up. Once more shoving that thought out of her head she focused on forcing her mind to continue to wake up.

         As she did that she could feel her brother squeezing her hand and knew that she had a lot of company in the room. “ _Here’s to the girls on their boards with bruises and scars. Here’s to the girls whose fingers bleed from playing guitar. Here’s to anyone who never quit when things got hard. You’ll never let them say you’ll never get that far,_ ” Kat sang, opening her eyes to smile at her brother’s worried face. “Hey big brother,” she whispered. “Who’s all here?”

         “Hot Rod and I were the ones who brought you here,” Josh relayed. “Then Major Lennox –”

         “Ah, they caught up,” Kat sighed and slowly began to sit up. She figured since Josh was there, that meant the interrogation squad was on point too. Josh helped her by moving the bed so she could look around and still relax into the bed. However, the first thing she noticed however was the cute teddy bear by her arm.  Kat cooed at it then looked around. “Optimus Prime, Major William Lennox, Master Sergeants Robert Epps, Ratchet, Sam Witwiky, Mikaela Banes, Ironhide, and Bumblebee.” She nodded to each individual as she named them then blinked at all the flowers. “Wow, when did I open a flower shop?” she joked and got several smothered laughs. Well, that was a good thing.  Maybe her video got through to them. “What’s all this?”

         “An apology,” Optimus informed her with a bowed head. He wasn't fazed that she knew their holo-forms. He figured it had to be one of those things she knew. “You had every right to run.”

         Kat chuckled and winced as her ribs protested. Note to self, don’t laugh. At all. Or move for a bit. Not moving was good. At least until someone gave her some good drugs. Okay, she was really hurting if she was thinking about asking about meds. Great. “I need to apologize to you Sam,” Kat said, forcing her brain back on track. “I wasn’t expecting you there at all but you were convenient. Lennox was who I was expecting. And, I will admit I was slightly glad it was you. I would have had a hell of a fight on my hands if it had been Lennox. You need self defense classes. I’d offer to teach you, but Josh would kill me. Ask me once I’m healed.”

         Sam just shook his head confused. “You are an odd girl,” he sighed.

         Both Josh and Kat laughed at that, though the girl winced at the action. No laughing Kat, no laughing! “You have no idea,” Josh chuckled, taking Kat’s hand and rubbing the back of it. “We’re a special breed. Any O’Malley is.”

         “Family trait,” Kat smiled as she relaxed against the bed. “In fact our family motto is ‘A semino seorsum ex totus alius’,” Kat informed the group.

         Optimus tilted his head as he accessed the internet to translate what she said. “A breed apart from all others?” he asked to confirm his search. The O’Malley siblings nodded. “Who thought of it?” he asked with a smile.

         “Ten times great-grandmother,” Kat replied. “She married into the family and came up with it when her oldest son was born.” She hugged the teddy bear close as she thought about her family. Bumblebee came over and gently tapped her arm. When she turned her attention to him he began signing. Kat followed the movement of his hands and smiled. “Thank you for the bear Bee,” she murmured.

         “Sign language?” Josh asked confused.

         Bee was saved from answering when Kat’s Doc came in frowning. “Joshua you know you were supposed to call me the _second_ your sister woke up!” the man scolded.  Josh raised his hands in a ‘don’t-look-at-me’ gesture and moved so the Doc could fuss over her. “You should still be out cold,” the man scolded his patient. Kat rolled her eyes in annoyance at the comment, an action the doc saw but ignored. He did give her a knowing look when she visibly relaxed after he gave her a dose of morphine. She couldn’t hide her pain from the man who knew her inside and out! “You lost a liter of blood and your body is still replenishing it. On top of the concussion you are still recovering from!”

         “Doc, you know me and music,” Kat drawled, shooting him an annoyed look. She hated telling people that she was in pain and hated taking meds even more. Two things the Doc quickly learned and learned to ignore.  But this time she was willing to accept the morphine as it turned the pain down to a dull roar. “It plays, I sing. End of story!”  The Doc snorted and glared at her iPod as it changed to _Get Up_ by Superchic[k] as if to mock him. “Anyway, I’m up so when do I get out?” she asked.

         “You’re not going anywhere any time soon,” the Doc snapped. Though his voice was sharp, his hands were gentle as he carefully checked her bandages. “You need surgery to fix your ribs or you will end up dead by the crazy stuff you manage to pull.”

          Kat raised an eyebrow at him incredulously. “It’s not the first time I’ve been in a pickle like this,” she reminded him. “And it’s also not the first time I’ve given you the finger and disappeared from this hospital even without morphine in my system. You suck for dosing me by the way. Do I need to do that again?” The doctor scowled at her but kept silent as he went over her charts.

         Finally the man sighed and looked at her. “You can leave when you can walk on your own with no assistance, though I don't count the morphine as assistance since I know you won't ask for it again. And after you have surgery to put your ribs back in place. Doesn’t mean you aren’t getting it missy. You _need_ the surgery.”

         Kat scowled and went to snap a retort when Josh spoke up. “Actually, Dr. Hatchet and I were just talking about the procedure and though Doc you’re good and all, Kat and I have taken a job that will put us overseas if not on the local base for some time. Dr. Hatchet is going to be our new doctor while on this job.”

         Kat raised an eyebrow at her brother and a smug Ratchet but stayed silent as her Doc stared at Josh. “You trust the guy?” the man asked after a long moment. The Doc knew how hard it was for the siblings to trust him, let alone anyone else. Their trust issues were miles long and well discussed amongst the medical community.

         Josh nodded and waved a hand at Ratchet. “Dr. Ron Hatchet, meet Dr. Henry Mason. Doc, meet Hatchet.” Ratchet pulled Doc Mason into the hall so they could talk and Josh turned to give his sister a smug smile.

         “Well that’s one way to get Doc out of here,” Kat chuckled, not wincing this time due to the meds in her body. As much as she hated pain meds, she would be the first to admit that they worked. “So Ratchet offered to put my ribs back in place hu? Wonder if he knows what he’s getting himself into.”

         “What do you mean?” Sam asked confused.

         Kat just smiled widely as Josh shook his head. “My sister has a reputation of… eluding hospital staff and getting out early, even though it puts her back here again,” Josh explained.

         “Last time I was here was after someone decided to experiment with questionable chemicals in my shop,” Kat informed the listening group. “I was there when said chemicals went boom. Spinal damage, fractured collarbone, and cracked pelvis. How long do you think I was here?”

         Ratchet, who just came back in with Doc answered that. “You were in the ER for 3 hours when you were sedated and taken to intensive care. Somehow while under sedation you got out of the restraints Dr. Mason had you put in, climbed out of the second story window and walked back to your shop. Your brother found you passed out on your bed two hours later and rushed you back when it became apparent your collar bone and pelvis broke during your adventure and that time you stayed for several weeks and didn't object to the meds for once, most likely because Joshua told you to shut up and accept the help.” Optimus and Hot Shot stared at the girl in shock while Ironhide, Lennox, and Epps tried to pick their jaws up from the floor. Sam, Mikaela and Bee imagined the pain she must have been in and couldn’t help but pale.

         Kat however just shrugged. “Pain wasn’t that bad and I needed to make sure my shop was okay. I knew any cabby would take me back to the hospital as would Josh or any of the friends I’ve got so walking was the next best thing. Didn’t realize I broke the pelvis until I started climbing the stairs and broke the collar bone when I caught myself as my legs gave out. The bed was nice and soft though!”

         “How could you ignore that much pain?” Ironhide asked incredulously. “The broken pelvis alone is enough to send someone in shock!”

         Kat and Josh’s smiles vanished at that. “Practice. Lots and lots of practice,” Kat replied shortly.

         Doc stepped forward at that to keep people from asking questions she wouldn’t want to answer. “I don’t like it, but Doctor Hatchet can take over your case,” he grumbled. “I’ve given him the data packet we have of your files, so he doesn’t have to cart them around. Figured it would be easier.”

         “Thanks Doc,” Kat smiled. “So, when do I get out of here?”

         Doc just motioned for the young woman to stand and he and Josh moved everyone out of the way. Kat grinned as she pulled back the covers and swung her legs over the edge. The movement caused her ribs to protest even with the medication, leaving her breathless for a moment, but she got her body under control and slowly stood. Josh, Hot Rod, and Ratchet watched her closely, the latter two scanning her to make sure she didn’t over do it, as she started to calmly walk forward. It was only because Josh knew his sister so well that he saw her pushing her limits but she walked around the room without assistance before sinking onto the bed again. Doc scowled but nodded. “Deal’s a deal, you can leave whenever you like. However I would like to bandage your chest a bit to help keep your ribs in place somewhat. Doctor Hatchet, I will also be giving you some morphine to give her on the trip since you are traveling quite a distance and I’m not sure when you will get the chance to fix her up. It will keep her comfortable and damn it Katherine you better accept or so help me I will give him anesthesia.”

         “Deal,” Kat replied and relaxed into her bed. The Doc left to get what he needed and Ratchet turned on her.

         “Why didn’t you tell him you are in pain?” the medic demanded, coming over to scan her better.

         Both Kat and Josh snorted at that. “This is pain?” she asked incredulously though breathlessly. “Did you not hear anything of the previous conversation?”

         Ratchet scowled down at her and continued his scans of her chest. “Well you didn’t move anything else. Thank Primus.”

         Kat just shook her head and looked at the people still in the room. Hot Rod was watching her closely as was Josh but she just smiled at them as a new song came on. Kat snorted at the ironic song as _Move Along_ from All-American Rejects started playing. Optimus and Ironhide were watching her with calculating gazes, as was Lennox. Epps had ushered Bee, Sam and Mikaela out when she had stood and from the sounds outside the room he was keeping them entertained with stories of his unit. “So what now?” she asked staring at Optimus. “You’ve got me, and to be honest I know you meant your apology, but there are a lot of questions you are going to want answered that I may or may not be comfortable answering.”

         Ironhide and Optimus traded amazed looks and Lennox almost stepped forward eagerly. Hot Rod stood at that and stood next to the bed in a silent show of his support of her. Lennox noticed the gesture and nodded to the bot. “If you wouldn’t mind,” Optimus replied stepping forward with Ironhide. Josh watched them warily but paged a nurse for a few extra chairs.

         Kat waited for the request to be filled and everyone settled before she started talking. “I’m not entirely sure what happened to bring me here,” she sighed. “But I’ll explain as best as I can.”

         “What’s your main theory?” Josh asked leaning forward eagerly.

         “Dimensional shift plus life transferences,” Kat sighed. “For the rest of you let me explain. The world as you know it is one dimension or realities of many. There is a little known phenomenon of people being pulled or pushed through these dimensional barriers. Usually, there’s no really problem as most dimensions are close enough to each other, the individual doesn’t realize what has happened. However, there’s that one in a million shot where someone travels from one dimension, to another they only can dream about.”

         “And this occurrence?” Optimus asked.

         “When Ironhide hit the Kat in this dimension, I was hit by a similar modal of car in my dimension causing both of our souls to temporarily leave our bodies. With our dimensions colliding, so did our souls. The Kat from my dimension in essence died and all that was left was me.”

         “So the Kat I grew up with,” Josh sighed.

         “Is still me Cypher,” Kat smiled at him. “I just got two, identical versions of our childhood in my head.” But for all her bravado, she nervously hugged the bear.

         Josh still saw her uncertainty and enveloped her in a soft hug. “You will always be my sister kitten,” he whispered.

         Kat choked as tears ran down her face at the childhood nickname and she hugged him as tightly as she could. “I love you big brother,” she whispered. Hot Rod came up behind the two O’Malley’s and put a reassuring arm around the two. He couldn’t imagine what Kat was going through, but Primus help him he would be there for his charge as he had began to view her. Optimus saw that and traded a quick data burst with his teammates. Suddenly Kat snorted. “Wanna know what my first thought was waking up?” she asked him. Josh looked down at her confusedly. “I’m alive? Well damn.”

         The O’Malley’s traded a laugh at that, Kat wincing again the entire time. “So, are you ready to blow this place?” Josh asked. Kat shooed him and the other men out of the room and had them send Mikaela in.

         The girl did with a pout and glared at Kat. “I see you still have a problem with me,” Kat sighed as she stood and started to get dressed. “Your boy in uninjured and was in no danger.”

         “You still took him,” Mikaela shot back hotly. “He could have been killed!”

         “I know it looked that way,” Kat informed the girl as she pulled on her pants and ditched the hospital gown. Another thing she hated, hospital gowns. So flimsy and always open in the back “But I knew Josh’s reactions and the reactions of the others would keep both of us safe.” Mikaela stared at her dubiously and Kat sighed again. “Mikaela Banes, you live with your grandmother and are waiting on your father to get out of jail for grand theft auto. You are a wiz at mechanics, you like big guys with big arms and tight abs, the reason you are with Sam is because he surprised you and saw you for who you really are. You two also discovered an alien race together. His first words to you at the lake were, “Hey Mikeala, it’s Sam! Witwicky? Well, I was wondering if I could ride you home- I mean, give you a ride home, in my car to your house.” Is that about right?” Mikeala gapped as Kat recounted exactly how she became interested in Sam.

         “H-how did you?” she stammered.

         “I know a lot of things,” Kat replied and turned to face the girl as she finished putting on her tank top. She was suddenly very grateful that she hadn’t wearing a corset when she left.  “I know about you, a lot about Sam, and even more about the Autobots and Decpticons equally. And before you ask no, I’m not giving up information on either faction.”

         Mikeala sighed but followed the girl out into the hall. “Shall we?” she asked as her Doc came up with a scowl. Kat rolled her eyes as she was pushed back into the room and joined the grinning group after five minutes with an armful of bandages and a well-wrapped chest. “And now can we go before I harm someone in this hospital?”

         Josh knew her threat was real and helped her out of the building when it became apparent she was about to fall over. Morphine liked to put off her sense of balance. Hot Rod “ran off” only to pull up at the front. Josh helped Kat sink into the car and jumped into Ratchet’s alt form. “She better stay safe or I will tear you’re people apart,” Josh warned the medic and they all took off.

         Kat sighed as she sank into Hot Rod’s leather and he moved the seat to a comfortable position. “When’s our flight?” she asked him, as she relaxed.

         “We’re set to leave the second Ratchet's finished patching up your ribs. Which he wants us at the Air Force base pronto so he can work on you. They've already set up a room for you and everything,” Hot Rod informed her. “Major Lennox made the call while you were getting dressed.”

         “Do you think it would be alright if I picked up some things before I go under the knife?” she asked, thinking about what she had and what she wanted to pick up. Hot Rod just turned towards her loft and after a few seconds the rest of the team followed. “I hope they won’t be too upset,” Kat sighed.

         “I just told them that you wanted to pick up something’s, and Lennox is having some soldiers pick up some of your brother’s things while you're in surgery. We aren’t going overly far. Our current base is somewhere on the Canadian boarder,” Hot Rod informed her. Suddenly Ratchet veered off for Josh’s apartment.

         Hot Rod’s holo-form popped up to stare at the breathlessly chuckling young woman. “That would be Josh kicking Ratchet’s dashboard until he turned,” Kat informed him, putting a light hand on her ribs. “We are particular about who touches our things, we both tend to have things…. Booby-trapped. Josh a little more than me.”

         Hot Rod winced and shook his head. “I’m getting a word. That word is boom.” The two shared a laugh at that. Finally they pulled up to her shop. “We have your duffle back in my trunk, but other than that I don’t know what else you need.”

         “Just my guitar,” Kat informed him. “I’ll be right back out.” True to word, Kat just checked her shop, grabbed the instrument, and came back down locking things up as she did so. “It will take Josh about another twenty minutes before he’ll be ready to leave but let’s go anyway.” Hot Rod’s holo-form simply vanished and they drove off for Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Base.


	5. Fix One Problem and One More Appears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kat get's fixed up, the group gets some background, and of course the Decepticons make for complications.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me a lot longer to write this chapter than I believed it should. Then again, there is a point of contention that I had to wring out. Hopefully, it intrigues people in this chapter.

**Chapter 5 - Fix a Problem and One More Appears**

         The medical staff of the base eyed the VIP room curiously. They had been little warning about the emergency surgery they were being roped into. With only a name, picture, and basic file to tell them who they were dealing with, they had fought down surprise when a young woman drove up in a racer’s car. Now, said girl was waiting patiently in a room with a surfer boy who owned said racer’s car. The sound of someone singing got them to pause occasionally before moving on. Currently, more than a few lingered around to hear the song that was pouring out. “ _Hey brother! There’s an endless road to rediscover. Hey Sister! Know the water’s sweet but blood is thicker. Oh! When the sky comes falling down. For you, there’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do!_ ”

         Inside the room Hot Rod was starring at Kat as she strummed her guitar and bobbed her head along with the beat. “ _Hey brother? Do you still believe in one another? Hey sister! Do you still believe in love I wonder? Oh! If the sky comes falling down! For you! There’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do! What if I’m far from home? Oh brother I will hear you call? What if I loose it all? Oh sister I will help you out. Oh! If the sky comes falling down, for you, there’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do!_ ”

         “A good description of our relationship,” Josh’s smooth tenor cut in and Kat shot him a smile. Hot Rod, who had been enthralled by Kat’s song, yelped and nearly fell out of his chair as Josh, Ratchet, and Lennox filed in. “Why that song?” Josh asked, stealing a hug from Kat.

         Kat handed him her guitar with a shrug. “It fit. With you and the others coming after me after I told you to stay away and all.” She gave him a blinding smile. “ _If the sky comes falling down, for you, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do_ ,” she sang at him.

         Josh’s grin faded a bit as he tucked her guitar away. “Well, it’s true,” he agreed. “Now, what’s the game plan?”

         Ratchet steeped up at that. “Simple, we get you through pre-op now Miss Katherine and I put your ribs back into place. While you’re out and I’m sure you’re no longer at risk of causing yourself further damage, the nurses will load you up in either my or Rodric’s vehicles and we will head for our base. There, you will be put through _my_ recovery routine while your brother get’s inducted to our group.”

         “There, we would like for you to go over everything each side has to offer,” Lennox pipped up as he turned to Josh. “Our organization truly is in the infant stage. We haven’t even managed to secure a proper base for everyone, and we’re looking at pulling some internationals in if we can. But the red tape the Autobots have created just by being here has us stalled.”

         “Let us handle it,” Kat requested, getting the men to blink at her. Seeing there shocked looks she rolled her eyes. “Think about it, the O’Malley name is synonymous with international affairs and high quality products from technology to weaponry. We have hubs all over the world and are on first name basis with many government leaders. Including President Bush and the presidential candidates, Obama and McCain. I have the Crown Prince of England in my phone and Josh has a standing invitation to tea at the palace. And that’s just to point out who we know. Starlight Inventions can handle red tape.”

         “Starlight?” Hot Rod echoed, his eyes blanking out as he Googled the name. Seeing the different hubs that popped up he whistled lowly. “What do you two _do_?”

         “Everything,” Josh deadpanned with a smile.

         “No kidding,” Lennox huffed, leaning against the wall. “The biggest media boost they get is their claim to… what is it again?”

         Ratchet, who was looking the company up as well pipped up, “ _Re-inventing tomorrow with the minds of today_.” Blinking her looked the two over. “You two are quite rich.”

         “In monetary yes,” Kat agreed with a look of distaste. One Josh had as well when the bots glanced at him. “Family though is the one we covet the most.”

         “Money makes our job at bettering the world easier and allows us to pay all of our people well, that’s it,” Josh agreed. Shaking his head hard the smiled at the others. “Anyway, we’ve got a procedure to perform yes?”

         Ratchet, reminded of his job, snapped back to attention. Leaning outside the door, he waved one of the hovering nurses in with everything they needed. Kat eyed the things in her hands with distaste but waved the menfolk out. All too soon she was sitting on the bed while the woman put in the hated but needed IV. Finally the nurse backed off and let the men back into see her. Josh had a knowing and exasperated smile that grew the second he saw his sister pouting and generally glaring at the quickly retreating nurse. “I hate IV’s,” she informed them as they surrounded her once more. “And meds. And Doctors. Hatchet through get’s a free pass. I like you.”

         “Thank you?” Ratchet blinked at her startled.

         Josh shook his head and pressed a kiss to his sister’s head. “It’s a compliment,” he admitted. Kat nodded and leaned into his side slightly. It was only because he was holding her that Josh knew she was trembling. “It means she trusts you not to screw up and knows you are too skilled to mess up on her.” Ratchet blinked again then turned to the nurse to hide his blush. Seeing Lennox’s and Hot Rod’s smirk he chased the two out gruffly. Josh smiled back then pressed another kiss to her hair. “It’ll be okay kitten,” he whispered lowly. “Ratchet knows what he’s doing.”

         Kat nodded silently but found her fingers winding around his jacket absently. “Stay?” she begged just as quietly. Her sharp eyes watched as Ratchet finished securing a room for the procedure and got the medications he required.

         Josh knew her feelings on the matter and squeezed the back of her neck reassuringly. “Of course.” Ratchet and Hot Rod head the murmuring but kept quite as the medic prepared the chart and finished getting the orders around for his surgery room. The siblings watched as Hatchet shooed everyone out and got Kat to lay properly on the bed before he and the nurse began wheeling her out. Josh was the only one not forced anywhere as his hand was firmly in his sister’s grip.

         Ratchet managed to extract the man long enough to scrub down while Kat got a similar treatment by the no-nonsense nurses. The second he was free, Josh let Kat hold onto his hand desperately. Ratchet didn’t comment, instead he used the distraction to inject Kat with the needed sedative. “He’ll be here when you wake up Miss Katherine,” Ratchet promised lowly.

         “God help you if you lie Ratchet,” she murmured back, her hands loosening the death grip on her brother. “Josh? You can tell ‘em why. Basics.”

         Josh grimaced at the curious look he got at that. “Ask the others when you get done,” he requested after a moment. “I’ve got more curiosity to kill.”

         Ratchet shrugged and waved the man out before turning to his truck form and pulling out several machines. The nurses and doctor quickly got to work so they could repair the young woman’s ribs while Josh was escorted out. Seeing the group minus Bumblebee and the kids waiting patiently he sighed and made his way over. “She’s under?” Hot Rod asked, catching sight of the brunet first.

         Josh nodded, absently pulling the hair net off and running his fingers through. “She’s out,” he confirmed wearily, leaning against the wall. “Who’s got questions?”

         “I think we all do,” Lennox sighed, reclaiming the chair he had abandoned when he had seen Josh.

         “I think the best one is what’s her story?” Epps decided for the group.

         Seeing several nods Josh sighed. “It’s complicated,” he warned. “The best way I can describe it is our grandfather had certain... Expectations. Our father was his biggest disappointment. Kat and I lived with him on and off for ten years while dad was serving and mom ran Starlight and had to be over seas. And our grandfather was damn sure that we wouldn’t disappoint him like our father.”

         Ironhide and Optimus, who were well versed in reading between the lines, quickly began hacking records until they found what Josh _wasn’t_ saying. “He beat you and Kat.”

         Josh could hide the wince and heard several rumbles of anger. “More Kat than me,” he admitted, starring out the window. Even after all this time his heart wrenched when he thought about what his baby sister had gone through. “She could do _nothing_ right in his eyes. She wasn’t womanly enough so he tried to make her into a boy, but then she wasn’t manly enough. I finally got mom and dad’s attention after he broke her arm in two places and she nearly killed him.” Josh snorted and rubbed his eyes before the tears could fall. “But that’s only one piece of it. The doc who was treating her while we were with Grandfather… he messed up. Badly. Please don’t ask me how because I still can’t talk about it. Ever since, Kat and I have been wary of anyone medical. Dad and mom tried to help but… there’s only so much you can do. The only reason we trust Doc Mason was he caught the other doctor’s mistake and threw him out of the hospital. Even then, it took us months to let him do more than bandage stuff. He’s the one who fixed Kat’s arm. He never pushed, never demanded, and always let us go our own way with minor protests.”

         “And your sister’s strange tolerance for pain?” Optimus asked.

         That got a sad smile. “She was born with it we think. When I finally asked her about it she said it was like a sliding light dial. She could damn near turn it off with that and put it out of her mind.” Josh shrugged. “If you’re wondering if I have it, I don’t. I swear up a storm if I even get a _paper cut_. Kat? She blinks, shrugs, and moves on. Our dad was the same way.”

         The silence that followed was tense. Everyone tried to process what they had learned while putting it to the woman they had seen. Josh watched the Epps’s expressions as he tried to reconcile the information. “How?” the man finally asked blinking at Josh. “You just eluded to the fact that you and your sister were beaten, your sister was damn near fucked over by medical, and yet she’s so sweet. How?”

         Josh smiled softly at that. “Because she’s is. Fundamentally, Kat is nothing but a sweet, kind, kicking ass kid. And no matter how fuck up everything gets, how much pain she’s been through, that will never change.”

         Hot Rod whistled lowly. “That’s… rare.”

         Josh’s smile grew. “Try impossible. She does have a shit list though. Grandfather of course is on it, along with a few other names. And god help anyone who _does_ get on her list. Because that sweet girl can be vicious.” That got him several tilted heads in confusion.

         But he was distracted by Ratchet’s holo-form coming down the hall. Seeing the pleased smirk on the man’s lips made Josh nearly cave at the knees. “I’ve always been good and your sister proves it,” the medic declared, getting everyone else's attention. “Though I have to admit, she made me work.”

         “She’s okay?” Hot Rod asked worriedly.

         Ratchet nodded. “Doctor Mason did an amazing job draining the blood away from her lung and repositioning the rib with out wiring. It made my job much more simple. But with any break, there was some swelling. That made the wiring a little difficult but with my modifications to internal wiring it was doable. We’re gonna be waking her up shortly and I know you want to be there Josh.” Josh nodded and headed off with the medic. They would see about traveling afterwards.

         As they walked off Lennox sighed and pinched his nose in an effort to ward off a headache. “Looks like I’m gonna have to talk to Morshire to bring the girl in. And get her the NDF to sign.”

         Hot Rod gave him a confused look. “Does he have to know?” Lennox just sighed.

000000000000000000000000     

         When Kat woke again to her music playing ( _Nil Se’n La_ by Celtic Woman this time) and Josh hovering nervously. Seeing her awake and smiling got him to relax enough to agree to the flight. The fact that Ratchet drugged Kat up to her eyeballs none withstanding. Still, two wired ribs and two more scars to her ever impressive collection and Kat still had most of her mobility as the medic had worked around her muscles and didn’t cut them. Bonus!

         Currently, Kat sat in Hot Rod’s alt-form for the trip to the temp base on the Cananidan boarder where the NEST headquarters was located for the moment. They had yet to secure Deigo Garcia, something Kat wanted to make sure happened. They needed the space and Deigo Garcia was perfect. She wasn’t too keen on hanging around the rest of the group as her ribs still hurt and made her point when her brother tried to open her door. Thankfully his reflexes were good enough to dodge her senbon (she had stashed them in her guitar case before putting them up in her hair) and catch the needles before they hit the unsuspecting Epps behind him. She was just impressed that they had nearly hit her target. Ratchet’s repair job was good.

         Hot Rod was shocked at her reaction and kept the doors locked and the windows up in case she tried something else, though Josh seemed to be doing a great job on keeping the others away from her. Finally Hot Rod asked, “What’s going through your processors?”

         Kat pulled out the ear buds she had put in seconds after tossing her weapons at her brother and sighed. “Thoughts about what could happen, what should happen, and what will happen,” she finally replied as she stared up at the top of his alt form. “For example, the encounters your people had with Megatron and the All Spark a year ago were made into a movie in my dimension. There were also two other movies made, but things already are different, yet the same. Example, N.E.S.T has already been created and the negotiations for international co-operations are already underway. That part is still the same. You however, I didn’t expect. I honestly expected to run into Sideswipe, or Jolt, or even Arcee, but not you. You were never in the second or third movies.”

         “So what are you saying?” Hot Rod asked puzzled.

         “Something changed and it’s got me antsy,” Kat sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly. God how she was wanting the morphine right at that moment. No, bad Kat. You can do this without the drugs. Why did she still need them? Oh yeah, wired ribs still hurt like a son of a glitch. “Whether it was our dimensions colliding or what, I’m going at this half blind and I don’t like it.”

         Hot Rod processed what she said and the seat shifted in what Kat interpreted as a shrug. “Is doing this blind so bad?” he asked.

         Kat sighed and closed her eyes again. “Yes and no,” she finally answered. “Just expect something to happen when we stop to refuel and stretch in D.C.”

         “How did the Decpticon’s even find out about you?” Hot Rod asked.

         “Soundwave is floating above Earth in orbit, or at least he should be if not now in a year’s time, and he can easily access the police reports of my accident. And since the Autobots showed interest in me they want to know why,” Kat informed him. “Now I am under the impression that Bay got that part right, but something else is going to happen soon.”

         “Like what?” Hot Rod asked, as he relayed the information on Soudwave to Optiums.

         Kat’s brow furrowed as she thought. “I’m not sure,” she replied honestly. The two sat in uneasy silence as they processed what was on Kat’s mind. Suddenly the pilot announced that they would be landing at the Naval Air strip in D.C. in a matter of minutes and requested everyone was secure for landing. Kat just secured her seat belt and sat back with a sigh.

         Once they landed everyone was allowed off so they could move about for a bit and Ratchet could check Kat over. Kat however refused to leave Hot Rod’s alt form. “I need to scan you check you over feme,” the medic informed her with a huff. “I cannot get a proper scan with you inside of Hot Rod and you are due for your medication.”

         “Why do you think I’m not coming out,” she snapped back. Hot Rod’s frame shook with silent laughter and mild terror. He had never seen a mech let alone a small human defy Ratchet so boldly before and his admiration of the woman went up several notches. Even Optimus was having trouble hiding his laughter at their antics. Ratchet was quickly puffing up to the point Kat swore she would soon see steam coming out of his ears. “Leave me be until we get to the base Hatchet. I’m comfy, have my music, my guns, and my sabot rounds that I would love to try out. Now for the last time, you will get your scans when we are on base and I will only accept the drugs if I have too, which is not right now.”

         Ratchet grumbled but had to let the matter drop as he couldn’t pull her out of Hot Rod’s alt form without reversing his hard work or harming the other mech. In a fit of childishness Kat stuck her tongue out at the sulking medic. That got all the others laughing at the two. Ratchet huffed and rolled away into the special hanger so they all could transform. Hot Rod followed behind the rest and Kat slipped out so he could transform as well. Josh handed her back her senbon and slipped away to grill Lennox on what they needed and wanted. It was only because she had been distracted that Ratchet managed to sneak up and inject her next dose of morphine into her. Kat swore at him when she realized what he had done before she hid behind Hot Rod’s biped form so Ratchet would still have issues scanning her. “You okay?” Hot Rod asked softly as Kat trembled slightly.

         “I’m fine,” she insisted though she was in quite a bit of pain. At least the meds wouldn’t take long to kick in. Not that she’d admit aloud that once they did she would feel better. “Walk around a bit, I’m going for a walk outside once Hatchet over there starts going over what little info he got. Jerk.” Hot Rod nodded but followed her quickly retreating form with worried optics. Kat sighed when she got out into the sun and basked in the warm light for a moment before she looked around. Marines and Navy folk were walking around, doing their various jobs and task. The plane they had been on was being inspected with a fine tooth comb to make sure it was ready for the rest of the flight to the boarder, thought it wasn’t as long as their flight there. Still, the Autobots put a different form of pressure on the plane. Kat wasn’t about to bother them, but something was nagging at the back of her mind. Her brother called it her “Spider sense” after his favorite comic and television show as a kid. For some reason she knew something bad was going to happen, and soon.

         Just then a jet with alien markings buzzed the buildings and flew back into the atmosphere. “I hate it when I’m right,” Kat muttered and ,though her recently wired ribs protested through the meds, took of down the tarmac.

         Starscream had help in the form of Barricade again. Starscream was apparently the distraction the second the Autobots heard him buzz the buildings they were out following him. Barricade startled Kat by pulling up beside her and cutting her off. Kat pulled her guns as he transformed and loomed over her. “You are mine fleshling,” Barricade rumbled as he reached for her.

         “Wait Prowl!” Kat called, hoping her theory was right. Barricade froze in shock as the name sparked something in his core processors. “That’s your original name isn’t it,” Kat pressed on, seeing she started something. “Before Megatron corrupted your systems with that virus.”

         “How do you know that designation?” he snarled trying to process what the small flesh bag was saying. “HOW?”

         Kat ducked as he took as swing at her and fired off rounds at his legs, severing an Energon line as well as separating one of his legs from his body. Barricade went down with a roar of rage and Kat leapt up to put her gun to his chest plate startling him. “I know that name because I know Prowl and I know Barricade. Prowl was a faithful Autobot who’s systems got corrupted by a virus created by Mega-pain-in-the aft and he became Barricade, you. You never killed a human, or caused them extreme harm, causing Starscream and Megatron to punish you extensively as they saw it as weakness. Now you can come with me and have all your systems repaired or you can die here, which honestly that choice would make me very sad.”

         Barricade stared up at the small human in shock. She knew so much about him, yet she didn’t want to off-line him. “If I surrender to you, will you keep the Autobots from off-lining me?” he asked skeptically. Kat nodded, though her gun never wavered. “Why?”

         “Because I miss Prowl and you don’t deserve to die because of something Mega-bitch did to you,” she replied instantly if not a little breathlessly. “Your answer? Screamer is losing quickly and soon Optimus and the other are going to notice.”

         “I surrender,” Barricade sighed and Kat smiled. “What do you want me to do?”

         Kat kept one of her guns out in case he decided to do something stupid. “Power down your weapons systems and toss your blades to the side.” Barricade did as she asked and stared at her expectantly. Once she was sure he couldn’t reach his spinning blade Kat holstered her gun and jumped down with a pained gasp.

         “You are injured,” Barricade noted as he sat up.

         Kat shot him a smile. “Not as bad as you,” she informed him though she couldn't help gently pressing a hand to her ribs. The morphine had done its work only to be overwhelmed by the adrenalin of facing a large, menacing robot trying to kidnap you. The second all of her adrenaline left her body she would collapse from pain. And she knew it. Hopefully she didn’t undo Ratchet’s repair job or the bot would have her head. “Let me see if I can plug this leak till Ratchet can patch you back up.”

         Barricade watched as she crimped the Energon line using her hair tie, letting her hair brush her shoulders and shut down his pain sensors in that section. That done, she quickly started sketching symbols around his form, where she pulled the chalk from he had no idea, until he and his damaged leg were surrounded. “Just a word of warning? Don’t move,” Kat cautioned as she began murmuring. As the symbols began to glow, the Decpticon found his systems locking up to prevent him from moving and something black began to flow from his optics, mouth, and spark.

         Kat never heard the Autobots drive up; she was too focused on what she was doing to save another of her favorite Autobots. Finally the black virus that had contaminated Prowl’s systems floated into a strange glyph before it disappeared in gold sparks. Kat swayed as the symbols on the ground disappeared and she smiled up at the stunned mech, who’s evil mark suddenly changed to his original symbol of an Autobot and his eyes became a startled blue. “Welcome back Prowl,” she whispered before passing out into Hot Rod’s waiting hands.

00000000000000000000000000000

         When Starscream buzzed the buildings Optimus’s head snapped up. “Autobots! Transform and roll out!” he ordered as Lennox shouted orders to the nearby SEALS, Marines, and Navy around them. They raced out to see Starscream hanging off of the control tower. “Where are the fleshlings!” he roared, transforming once more to fire on the incoming Autobots and military folks. “Where are the O’Malley’s!!!!”

         “You want an O’Malley!” Josh yelled, aiming his own .45 at the crazy mech from Ironhide’s truck bed. He had jumped in the second the mech drove by him. “I’m right here!” Starscream focused on the eldest O’Malley and buzzed him. Josh got of two shots and proved his mini-sabot rounds were just as good as the big ones as they blasted through a wing. Starscream roared in anger and began to fly off.

         “Follow him,” Lennox ordered with the command echoed by Optimus. “We need to bring him down!” Everyone did as ordered and chased the new Decpticon leader through the Navy yard.

         Suddenly Josh came to a realization. “He’s a distraction!” he yelled at the weapon’s specialist. “Where’s Kat?”

         Ironhide relayed the message to the other Autobots and military folks and Hot Rod pulled a 180 and raced for the hanger he had last seen Kat outside of. Optimus fired off one last shot at Screamer before barking out his orders. “Find Katherine immediately, she is your top priority,” he ordered. “Protect her at all costs.”

         Starscream realized that the game was up and flew away to their meeting place. If Barricade was lucky he had completed his mission. “There!” Josh cried pointing to an area of swirling gold energy. “That’s Kat’s location!”

         “What the hell is going on?!” Lennox demanded from his place on a Hummer that was keeping pace with Ironhide. “What is she doing?”

         “Something only our mother could do,” Josh replied tensely. “Step on it!” Ironhide detected the worry in the man’s voice and kicked it into high gear so he was in line with Hot Rod. They all arrived to see Kat chanting something they couldn’t identify as a black something was being pulled from Barricade’s optics, mouth, and spark chamber. “I didn’t know mom taught her that….” Josh breathed his eyes wide as he got off of Ironhide and the Autobots transformed.

         “What is going on?” Optimus asked curiously as he watched this strange occurrence.

         Josh just shook his head as the strange black substance formed a glyph before disappearing in gold lights. The symbols on the ground disappeared as well as Kat smiled up at a different mech. “Welcome back Prowl,” she muttered before passing out into Hot Rod’s hands, as he was the closest and was waiting to catch her just in case.

         Optimus stepped forward in shock. “Prowl?” he asked startled.

         The black mech blinked from the human to his leader. “Howdy Prahm,” he murmured in a thick Texan accent. “Long tahme no see.”

         “How is this possible?” Ironhide asked as Ratchet automatically started repairing Prowl’s damaged leg. “What did she do? You were infected with that slagging virus!”

         “She pulled it out of mah systems,” Prowl replied, starring at the girl once more. “She wrote some weird symbols around me and just……pulled the virus out of mah systems!”

         “Ratchet, run a system diagnostic before you finish repairing his leg,” Optimus ordered wary. “I am sorry Prowl but we need to be careful.”

         “Ah understand Prahm and ah wouldn’t have it any other way,” Prowl nodded and let Ratchet put him into stasis.

         Lennox glared at Optimus at that. “What the hell is going on here?” he demanded. “Isn’t this Barricade?”

         Optimus looked down at the new NEST leader and sighed. “That is a long story that is best served for when we reach our destination and the youngest O’Malley is awake,” he informed the humans.

         At the mention of the young woman everyone turned their eyes or optics to the unconscious woman Hot Rod had cradled in his arms. “ _Die another day_?” came from Bee’s radio as he stared at the unconscious girl.

         “Hot Rod, will you let me see her?” Josh asked mentally snorting at the Madonna song. It fit some days but he wouldn't tell Bee that. Silently Ratchet passed him her morphine as he shifted anxiously. She was going to need it they all knew.

         Hot Rod nodded and knelt so the other O’Malley could clamber up onto his arm. From there he examined his sister, giving her another shot of morphine when he was sure her body could handle it. “How is she?” Hot Rod asked as Josh smoothed her hair back.

         “Lucky to be alive. It looks like she coughed up some more blood,” Josh answered honestly. He dug out a spare hair tie and put Kat’s hair up. That done, he sat back and looked the bot in the optic. “Let me get down then give her to me. She’ll be more comfortable with me or lying down.”

         Automatically Ratchet scanned her at that and sighed. “The ribs are still in place and appear to be healing,” he informed the group.

         “I’ll transform and you can lay her down in the passenger’s seat,” Hot Rod informed the over protective brother. Josh nodded and hopped down to take his sister into his arms. The second she was secure in Josh’s arms Hot Rod transformed and opened the passenger door, even setting the seat back so she would be lying down properly. Josh carefully set his sister into the seat and watched as Hot Rod carefully secured her. “She’ll be safe until we reach the base,” Hot Rod informed Josh and the watching military folk.

         “Joshua, what did your sister do?” Optimus asked softly as he stared at his soldier and the girl inside. “How did she bring Prowl back to us?”

         Josh turned a glassy gaze up to the Autobot leader. It didn’t take much computing power to see even he was dazed by the turn of events. “Our mother had a very unique talent, one that is passed down from mother to daughter,” he informed them absently. “I can’t tell you more than that as I’m not really sure what she did. They really never did explain it to me.”

         Optimus wasn’t really happy with the answer, but let the matter drop with a silent glance with Lennox. Lennox shook his head then stared at his newest recruit and wondered what in the world he had gotten him and his team into. Shaking off the thought he shouted, “Alright men, let’s get loaded and of to headquarters! The rest of the team’s waiting for us.”

         Josh sighed and started walking when Optimus’s alt form cut him off. “Would you care to ride with me Joshua?” the leader offered. “I would like to ask you some questions, while I believe you have a few questions for me.”

         Josh nodded and climbed into the truck. Ironhide quickly pulled up alongside Lennox and picked up the man. As they headed for the plane Josh started the 20 question drill. “Why did you’re people come here?”

         “We came looking for the All Spark,” Optimus replied, a sad tone to his voice. Josh filled the name away to quiz his sister about later. If these Autobots were something she’d obsessed over, then he knew she would know every tiny detail about them. And he had a feeling this All Spark was very important. “A special cube that brought life to our planet and possibly to this one as well. We hoped to retrieve the All Spark and return to our devastated planet, to bring life to it once more. However, in the battle of Mission City, the Cube was destroyed along with the leader of our enemy Megatron. What is the full extent of your gifts and abilities?”

         Josh let out an explosive sigh and leaned back against the seat. “That’s a loaded question. It’s family history that we’ve all been smart at something. Dad was a genius when it came to computers, explosives, tactics, the like, so when I was four he started teaching me what he knew. He started Kat when she was four as well. We were given training equivalent to the Core, Army, National Guard, Navy, Air force, and Seals whenever he was home. We where then taught how to take down each and every one of them. When it became apparent I got dad’s smarts for computers, chemicals, and the like dad let me experiment more on my own time while he practically turned my sister into a living weapon, something our grandfather never approved of and tried to… well take out of her. Our mother taught us how to manage and run the family company, how to relax, and our founding principle. ‘Ever mind the Rule of Three. Three times what thou gives returns to thee. This lesson well, thou must learn, thy only gets what thou dost earn.’ Or Kat’s translation, ‘Rule of Karma, do good to others and it will be returned times three. But do ill and three times ill will fall on thee.’” Josh quoted.

         Prime searched what Josh mentioned and came up with something interesting as he parked it the plane, beside Hot Rod. “Your family is Wiccan?” he asked.

         Josh shook his head. “Yes and no,” he replied, trying to think of a way to explain their beliefs. “I think I’ll let kitten explain that one though. Anyway, are there any more of you here on earth?”

         Optimus hummed pleasantly at that. “Yes,” he replied. “Our young medic-in-training Jolt and one of our front line fighters Sideswipe arrived a few weeks ago. And one of are feme units Arcee arrived a few days ago. Jolt, Sideswipe, and Arcee are still acclimating to Earth.”

         “So why were you in Colorado without them?” Josh asked curious.

         Optimus vented hard, startling the Marines around him for a second before they went back to their normal tasks. “We were tracking an energy reading similar to the Allspark, when Ironhide struck your sister,” he replied. “That was in addition to negotiations for your assistance and your newest inventions.”

         “Don’t let Josh and Weeljack be in the same room for an extended period of time,” Kat called weakly from her place in Hot Rod. “There’d be nothing left of the East coast.”

         Josh jumped out of Optimus’s alt form as holo-forms popped up and crowded around Hot Rod and his passenger. “ _She’s alive!_ ” Bumblebee played from his speakers and his door wings twitched excitedly.

         “How do you feel?” Josh asked, leaning into the driver’s window.

         Kat smiled at him wearily. “Sore, tired, and yes in pain though the morphine is kicking in Hatchet,” she finished before the medic could speak up. “How’s Prowl doing? His systems have got to be going through one hell of a grid lock to have the virus pulled out of him, but it was the only thing I could come up with so you didn’t off-line him the second you saw him.”

         “What you did is something I have never seen before,” Optimus rumbled. “How is something like that possible?”

         Kat looked at Josh expectantly. “Karmatic rule and that’s it,” he informed her. “This is more your territory than mine anyway. I don’t even know the half of it, it seems.”

         Kat sighed at that. “My mother was raised Wiccan until she learn some really crazy facts about her… well her blood line. What I did was the equivalent of an evil banishing spell a friend taught me and I adapted to best suit my abilities.”

         “Magic?” Lennox breathed.

         Kat shook her head. “Actually science and… something else,” she countered. But before the others could grill her the pilot announced that they would be landing at the base momentarily.

         “You will hold off your questions until I get her thoroughly checked out and get her back to shape,” Ratchet growled at the impatient NEST folk. Seeing smirking Josh he pointed at the man in question. “Probe her brother for answers if you are so desperate.”

         Josh paled at the shark like looks then dove into Hot Rod’s driver’s seat. The chuckling mech rolled the window’s up at Kat’s insistence. Once they were secured, both Josh and Kat stuck their tongues out at everyone. “So magic isn’t real hu?” Hot Rod prodded.

         Kat shrugged and put her headphone’s in to find the perfect song playing. “ _It’s not a family trait. It’s nothing that I ate and it didn’t come from skating with holy rollers. It’s an early warning-sign. It keeps my life in line but it’s so hard to define. Never mind, it’s just a spirit thing. It’s just a holy nudge. It’s like a circuit judge in the brain. It’s just a spirit thing. It’s here to guard my heart. It’s just a little hard to explain,_ ” she sang with a smirk as they finally touched down on the American/Canadian boarder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always welcome as I love feed back!


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